Not another attempt to steamroll the Corinthia debate

As Parliament’s National Audit Office Accounts Committee resumes tomorrow, it must not be subjected to another attempt at steamrolling the debate that needs to be had about the murky and contentious Corinthia deal. The country has been steamrolled enough already. As chairman of the committee, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne needs to allow a debate, not only for legislative purposes, but also for the public service, considering what is being said about it.

A day before the House of Representatives rose for Christmas recess, the government, through Fearne, tried to push the deal through rather abruptly. He tabled a motion seeking the committee’s final vote of approval to be taken there and then. Opposition MPs objected and, correctly, requested more time to study the deal.

That meeting was also addressed by Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, who explained how the Corinthia deal was based on the parameters of the next-door db Group ITS site mega-development.

But, quite differently from its neighbour, at that meeting back in December Mizzi had briefed the parliamentary National Audit Office Accounts Committee on a draft deed enabling the Corinthia to build apartments and offices on public land that had been allocated solely for tourism purposes.

The committee meets again to pick up from where it left off.

But in the meantime, the government seems to want to rush this through with as little debate as possible, and, according to media reports yesterday, the government is also refusing to publish a memorandum of understanding it signed with the Corinthia Group four years ago.

Fast forward to the present day and what we are looking at is little more than a speculative land-grab real estate exercise, given that the proposed agreement states the Corinthia Group will have the right to sell parts of the property to third parties without needing prior approval from the government. Come again? Are we actually hearing that the Corinthia Group would theoretically be allowed to get prime public real estate for a relative pittance – the well-documented numbers are actually shocking – and hold the right in reserve to sell off any of that land to the highest bidder at a significant profit?

This is way beyond preposterous. Public land is being sold at a fraction of its market price to a commercial entity, which can be then sold on to third parties. It appears, however, not to be too late, since our understanding is that the agreement is still in draft form and the government, as such, is still in time to stop at least this particular part of the madness.

The committee’s Opposition MPs could also force the issue to be debated in plenary if they vote against the deal, which they have already said they would. After that, it would all be down to a simple majority vote in Parliament. Should that come to pass, it would be interesting to see whether the government would allow its MPs a free vote on this one, since it has become such a controversial issue.

Tomorrow is expected to be a red letter in this whole saga, with the actual contentious contract and its controversial clauses meant to be placed under discussion. Whether the under-wraps MoU the government signed with the Corinthia Group four years ago will also be open to scrutiny is another question.

The adjacent db Group project is currently being investigated by the National Audit Office and the Corinthia deal deserves no lesser treatment if we are to safeguard what little is left of our country’s environment. We welcome that investigation wholeheartedly as much as we will welcome what we hope will be more genuine, wholesome proceedings before the committee tomorrow, and possibly in plenary somewhere down the road, where full, educated debates can be had and heard.

There is simply too much to lose if we sell out and make irreversible mistakes. The residents of the area, and indeed the entire country, deserve no less.