THE TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2004 15

NEWS

MEPs form newMediterranean group

A group of MEPs from variouspolitical groups in the European Par-liament have joined forces in orderto start focusing more on Mediter-ranean issues.

The initiative was taken by ItalianMEP Gianni De Michelis, whoserved as Italy’s Foreign Minister inthe early 1990s.

Maltese MEP David Casa, whoyesterday attended the first meetingof this group in Strasbourg, said theintention was to come together oncea month to discuss Mediterraneanissues and initiatives taken by theEU in this region.

He said the group would be instru-

mental in getting across theMediterranean message to the EU,especially on new policies thatdirectly affect this region. The groupwill be also discussing various inter-national themes of interest to theregion.

A statement issued by Mr Casa’soffice said that following yesterday’sfirst meeting, Mr De Michelis dis-cussed the initiative with formerPresident Guido de Marco in a tele-phone conversation.

Mr De Michelis was president ofthe EU Council when in 1990 Maltapresented its formal application tojoin the European Union.

Schools take partin heritage project

Projects and eventsorganised by Sacred Heartsenior school of St Julians,Lija primary school and StAnne primary school,Marsascala were chosen asthe best from among schoolsparticipating in the Euro-pean Heritage DaysNational Competition 2004,the Superintendence of Cul-tural Heritage said.

The competition was partof the wider Heritage Dayscampaign under the auspicesof the Council of Europe.

This year’s chosen themewas Windmills – Lost Land-

marks In Cultural Land-scape.

Malta joined over 40 Euro-pean countries in highlight-ing particular aspects of their heritage. Participatingschools organised activitiesand events for their studentsin order to promote thisyear’s chosen theme.

The events included schooland classroom projects, toursand visits to historic wind-mills.

The Sacred Heart seniorschool held an exhibition onMaltese windmills; the Lijaprimary school organised

workshops during which thechildren were taught how tobuild a model of a windmilland the Marsascala primaryschool organised activities forschoolchildren on the samelines as the Lija primaryschool.

The Superintendence,which is the regulator of theheritage sector, inauguratedits outreach project forschoolchildren, designed toprovide downloadable lessonplans that have been specifi-cally designed for primaryand secondary school teachers.

Ivan Camilleri

The cost of the proposed opera housesite and Freedom Square developmentshas been estimated at Lm14 million,according to an article in the winterissue of the Chamber of Architects’ offi-cial journal, The Architect.

The government recently suggestedthat the opera house site be developedinto a new Parliament, provoking crit-icism from all fronts.

In his analysis of the financial valueof the capital city’s prime site, architectDenis Camilleri estimates that the con-struction of the opera house area wouldcost Lm8 million, including excavationworks, offices, the car park, the façadeand a contingency sum. The FreedomSquare development would cost Lm6million.

The journal felt it would be an inter-esting exercise to tackle the hottest top-ics to hit the architectural scenerecently. In its article The Opera HouseSite – What’s It Worth?, it goes on tolist the estimated rental values for theproposed development.

The total gross earnings wouldamount to Lm2.4 million per annum,reduced to Lm2.2 after deducting 7.5per cent for annual management andmaintenance costs.

The opera house site’s lettable officespaces would mean an income of Lm1.5million a year and its car spaces (320 atLm275 per car space) would bring inLm88,000 per annum.

The Freedom Square developmentretail outlets would mean a revenue ofLm682,500 per annum, while netannual income from its 400-space carpark would amount to Lm100,000,according to annual, daily, half-dailyand hourly costs, after deducting oper-ational expenses.

Mr Camilleri’s calculations are basedon the fact that office rentals vary inMalta between a low of Lm25 persquare metre to Lm100 per squaremetre.

According to the government ’sbrief, the site would include sevenfloors above street level and twounderlying ones – 15,000 squaremetres – for office use, while theFreedom Square development wouldprovide for 14,000 square metres ofretail space.

According to Mr Camilleri “the pro-posed development would seriouslyjeopardise the sustainability of the

existing shopping district, meaningthat the business potential of Vallettahas to grow in stature.

“Valletta has to be considered as thecapital of the Mediterranean, housingEuro-Mediterranean institutions ofinternational stature to provide thestimulus for the necessary growth inthe retail market,” he said.

Given that Maltese households arefar from bankrupt, despite the govern-ment’s financial debt in excess of Lm1billion, “the site capital potential couldbe unleashed to undertake a capitalproject, without providing a direct

injection of funds, thus relieving theburden from the taxpayer”.

Not only would less reliance on tax beachieved but also the public would havethe opportunity to invest in a primeproperty development.

The idea would be to set up a shareinvestment securitisation company forthe opera house proposed development,with the government providing the site,together with the project managementnecessary.

The securitisation of the opera housesite would be a first for Malta but prob-ably not the last, Mr Camilleri concludes.

“Securitisation of property would givethe Maltese investor the opportunity toparticipate in improving economicgrowth, with capital projects beingundertaken.

“It is possible as the governmenttakes advantage of the open marketland value, as has already occurredin Singapore, with its high popu-lation density and no naturalresources.

“Malta could then move to first worldstatus and Valletta truly vie as the cap-ital of the Mediterranean,” Mr Camil-leri says.

Proposed opera house siteÔworth millionsÕ in rental value

Fiona Galea Debono

The Opera House site: ÒSecuritisation of property would give the Maltese investor the opportunity to participate in improvingeconomic growth, with capital projects being undertaken,Ó according to architect Denis Camilleri.

Chris Sant Fournier