Students are to go ahead with a protest against the commercialisation of university life, despite private company Campus Hub's overnight revision of its parking rates.

 “The protest is definitely still on, the parking fee increase was just the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Giuseppe Gatt, secretary general of student organisation GħSL told Times of Malta. 

Last weekend, Campus Hub, a company outside the University of Malta, tripled its parking fees overnight causing uproar among students.

Previously, users could park their car in the facility’s underground parking facility for a flat €2 fee. That fee jumped to €6.50. 

Due to the insufficient number of parking spaces on campus, students, staff and lecturers depend on private parking. 

Students were outraged by the soar in prices, and several student organisations joined forces and announced a protest for Friday dubbed as ‘Students over Profit’. 

University of Malta students demonstrated in September against the privatisation of their campus life. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Within hours of announcing the protest, Vassallo Group, the company that runs Campus Hub revised its parking rates late on Tuesday night. 

Now, students can park their cars at the facility for a fixed €3 fee as of today, as long as they present proof that they are enrolled at the university. 

However Gatt said the protest, set to be staged at 12.30pm on Friday near Campus Hub, was about more than parking. 

“We are against students being seen as piggy banks and companies profiting from us,” he said.

“We are reaping the consequences of the privatisation of this piece of University land and we are against students being seen as piggy banks,” he said.

The University of Malta bought the land in 2013. In 2016, Vassallo Group won a €25 million concession to build and run a 'residence and community' complex.

Campus Hub began operating this academic year, and offers a mixture of student accommodation, lecture rooms, underground parking and retail and food outlets. 

Students have previously raised the issue of commercialisation, highlighting the fact that there are now no bookshops left on campus

Echoing Gatt's comments, student organisation SACES president, David Debattista said the protest also highlights the lack of efficient public transport alternatives. 

He said he uses his car to go to University because it takes him over an hour to travel from Rabat to Msida when using public transport. 

"Time at university is extremely precious, students cannot afford to waste an hour to get to campus, even if you are on the other side of the island," he said.

He said the protest will also highlight the inadequacies in public transport.