The Prime Minister has announced that advanced negotiations are under way to open the door to one of the largest foreign direct investments in Malta's history. Should this project materialise, as we are all confident it will, it will inject €200 million in direct investment and scores of other millions more in commercial spin-offs. It should also create 800 new jobs. All this will happen as we turn a dilapidated remnant of the past into a cutting-edge signal of the future.
Vital as this might be at present, the White Rocks Sports & Leisure Village would hit another equally important national target: hundreds of Maltese sportsmen and women, as well as thousands of sports enthusiasts, would be upping their game, as it were. At White Rocks, a large number of sports associations would have state-of-the-art pitches, courts, tracks, training facilities and offices. All in one place. Many sport disciplines which do not have international-standard facilities will have them, thereby opening up the possibility of hosting new international sporting events. I am convinced that this project will spearhead a national drive for a stronger and more vibrant sports culture in Malta.
The deal we are working on is win-win for the country and for Maltese taxpayers. Put simply, it is this. The team of investors would be granted a lease on the White Rocks site. It would be developed into a world class sports village at their expense. The sports facilities would become government property from day one and we would have the right to assign their use to Maltese sports organisations. However the management and maintenance over the years shall remain the full responsibility of the investors.
In sum, it would be the investors who would be taking the risk of making the project financially viable, not the Maltese taxpayer. And whatever happens, the land being used for sports purposes, and everything built on it, remains public property - lock, stock and barrel. Malta would have one of the largest multi-sports institutes in Southern Europe and practically all of it would be accessible to the public from day one.
To make White Rocks work, to justify their capital outlay and running costs, the investors are banking on increasing sports tourism to Malta by an unprecedented margin, along with the attendant hospitality, commercial and real estate opportunities. Given that they would have a financial interest in making it work and with the international track record of their team, we are confident that they would succeed. And, of course, an exponential increase in sports tourism would be of great benefit to our country.
Historically, Malta has been a hub in every epoch - for trade, cultural exchange, maritime facilities and, of course, war. With the White Rocks Sports & Leisure Village, this national instinct for "hubbing" would be redefined for the present and the future. Access to sports markets in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and beyond would be massively upgraded if this project comes to fruition. This year alone - without this project, with the international financial crunch still with us, and without the sports tourism marketing expertise of the investors' team - 22,000 of our hotel bed nights (excluding thousands more coming from scuba diving, competitive football events and private initiatives) have been taken up by sports tourists brought over by not-for-profit sports organisations. With a world class venue in place, the future of sports tourism and the attraction of international competitions to Malta would look bright indeed.
In this light, I share the enthusiasm of all Maltese sportsmen and women to get this project up and running. We already have a general agreement on the way forward and there certainly is good will on both sides. As the Prime Minister pointed out, it is nevertheless our duty to counsel prudence. We are still in the negotiating phase and the finishing line is still ahead. We have, however, a sporting chance of getting there.
Mr Puli is the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport