The Libyan school in Ta' Giorni has applied for planning permits for a mosque and an apartment block on its grounds.

The two separate applications, filed in June and February of this year, propose a two-storey mosque with a turret and a five-storey apartment block with 40 apartments and 42 parking spaces in the St Julian’s suburb.

Plans for the apartment block include the uprooting of carob trees.

Both projects are planned within the Libyan school grounds, which are owned by the Libyan Higher Vocational Institute.

The Libyan government bought the Ta’ Giorni land in 1976, during a period when Maltese-Libyan relations were particularly friendly.

Only Libyan students were allowed to attend the school until 2013, when an amendment to the agreement opened the institute to international students.

The Muslim community has long called for a second purpose-built mosque in Malta.

Currently, the only purpose-built mosque in Malta is located on the outskirts of Paola.

In 2022, plans for a mosque in Luqa’s suburb, Ħal Farruġ, drew the anger of the local council and were eventually put on hold, citing concerns that the application would lead to "extreme air pollution" due to increased traffic.

Plans have since been suspended.

Luqa mayor John Schembri announced that the mosque application was suspended because of pending verifications concerning its land title.