AXED: Corinthia deal withdrawn, fresh plan for peninsula in the making

Plans for the development of a six-star complex in Pembroke have been withdrawn following extensive pressure the government faced since the deal was announced a few weeks ago.

The draft deal to hand land to the Corinthia Group has been sent back to the drawing board.

Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi was forced to withdraw the plans, which were only presented to Parliament last December, following vociferous opposition from the Opposition, business leaders and environmental activists.

In a letter sent to Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, Mizzi said he was withdrawing those plans and would be presenting fresh ones “in the coming days”. Fearne chairs parliament’s National Audit Office accounts committee.

The original plans would have seen Corinthia Group receive the huge tract of prime real estate on a 99-year lease for just €17 million, and allowed the group to develop parts of it for speculation purposes.

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia said the land was being given away for a pittance, and called for the deal to be renegotiated.

Government forced to withdraw deal ‘by sheer force’ - Delia

The Government was forced to withdraw the Corinthia deal by sheer force of those opposing the project, Leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia said in reaction.

Speaking at a press conference, Delia insisted that by retracting the St George's Bay deal, the Government admitted that the deal it was championing was not in the public interest.

"Government's retraction is in itself an admission that it was a rotten deal."

He was referring to the news that the Parliamentary resolution which would have passed on public land for private development was retracted.

Touching on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's words from last Sunday, Delia said that Muscat went from billing this project as necessary for Malta's economic development, to having to admit the deal was wrong and scrapping it.

"Within hours of it being announced last December - purposely close to the Christmas period - the PN signalled that it was going to oppose the deal.

“The PN will continue with its opposition against all deals that go against public interest including the Vitals deal which saw three public hospitals being sold for the price of one euro to a company with no experience in the health sector."