Corinthia MOU signed in 2015 remains hidden

The government is refusing to publish a memorandum of understanding it signed with the Corinthia Group four years ago as plans for a controversial deal transferring St George’s Bay peninsula to the hotel chain for speculation purposes continue.

In a joint press conference in 2015, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Corinthia chairman Alfred Pisani had said the group would be investing €400 million in its three existing hotels in St Julian’s to develop what was described as “an oasis of excellence” in the tourism industry.

No mention of any MOU had been made on that occasion.

The existence of a preliminary agreement surfaced last December, when Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi briefed the parliamentary National Audit Office Accounts Committee on a draft deed enabling the Corinthia to build apartments and offices for sale on public land allocated to it for tourism purposes only.

Efforts by Times of Malta to obtain a copy of the preliminary agreement proved futile and a request under the Freedom of Information Act has now been made. The government is resisting calls by both the Nationalist and Democratic parties to publish the 2015 MOU.

After the government rejected a call by the PD to...