'Uglification' of Sliema, St Julians set to continue

If you thought the rape of Sliema and St Julians was over, then you had better think again.

Hundreds of new apartments could soon be mushrooming at the two seaside localities, if the Malta Environment and Planning Authority gives the green light to a series of development proposals.

Mepa is currently looking at a total of 104 pending applications for development in Sliema and St Julians, statistics obtained from the same authority show.

In a list that includes the tearing down of four hotels and a guesthouse, the applications seem to have one common phrase - "the demolition of existing building and construction of apartments".

With the Tigné project gathering pace and with hundreds of concrete blocks lined up to join hundreds of other apartments erected in the last two decades, what does the future hold for the two popular towns?

On one side, preservationists and residents complain that the fast-paced development has wrought destruction, while developers maintain that they are making the economic wheel go round.

Michael Mifsud, manager at Dhalia, said the demand for property in Sliema was still strong, to the extent that several clients were buying property on plan.

Mr Mifsud envisaged, however, that the pending applications could well lead to an oversupply of property and, possibly, a readjustment of prices to more "realistic" levels. However, he believes the price of property located on or close to the seafront will keep rising.

A three-bedroom flat in Sliema nowadays costs Lm80,000 and over, while properties on the seafront come with a price tag of Lm150,000 and rising.

Houses are continually being pulled down to make way for apartments.

Several estate agents have advised contractors to construct one to two bedroom flats to house the increasing number of separated and single people seeking alternative property.

At the moment a lot of developers were going around the island in search of sites for speculation purposes, Mr Mifsud added.

Sliema mayor Albert Bonello Dupuis is not amused at the rate of development in his hometown. "Where before we had TV aerials, we now have tower cranes dotting the sky," he lamented.

Mr Bonello Dupuis said the local council has introduced a series of conditions, including a rental fee for tower cranes, which would guarantee that the unsightly machinery would be removed once the job is completed.

Still, this does not stop the residents from filing their complaints to the council on a daily basis, as more construction whips up dust across their locality.

He said the council was incensed to learn that an application had been submitted to build a block of flats in Mrabat Street, just after the council had spent Lm68,000 on tarmacking the road.

Mr Bonello Dupuis expressed serious doubts as to whether the infrastructure in Sliema could take all the development. "When we have heavy rains, the drains start overflowing... come next month and you will know what I'm talking about. So how is it possible to keep constructing new buildings?"

Architect Ray Sammut also raised questions about the strain on the infrastructure. "Does Mepa take into account the number of roads that need to be dug up to install water and drainage services," he asked.

Mr Sammut said the increasing number of apartments would automatically generate more traffic into Sliema, with all the ripple effects this brings about.

"Mepa might be making provisions for parking in the case of new apartment blocks but we have to take into account the fact that most families nowadays own two cars or more," he said.

One also had to take into consideration developments such as the Tigné project, which could generate more traffic because of its commercial outlets.

Mr Sammut argued that the decision by developers to build apartments rather than maisonettes or houses was simply linked to the price of land. "It obviously pays the developer more to build 10 apartments rather than a couple of maisonettes - especially since it seems that they are being sold!"

It would only be a surplus of apartments that could somehow slow down the development, he added.

A spokesman for Mepa said the authority assessed each application carefully, weighing the impact on the infrastructure by roping in other agencies for information. In general, the application approval rate at Mepa is 80 per cent.

Commenting about the aesthetics, the spokesman said that the Design and Policy Guide 2004, to be published shortly, would suggest a number of incentives to promote good design.

But Martin Scicluna, president of Din l-Art Helwa, said it was high time for the authorities to realise that a price was being paid by society for the construction industry. The arguments that the construction industry was the motor of the economy did not hold any water, especially when it is known that construction accounts for just four per cent of GDP.

There are 35,000 vacant housing units in Malta and only 14,000 of these are second homes.

Mr Scicluna said the fact that there were over 100 applications pending at Mepa for development in Sliema and St Julians further exacerbated the sorry state of the two towns.

"The 'uglification' of Sliema stands as a stark example of all that's gone wrong with Malta's urban development over the last 40 years."

He said Sliema was once the most dignified and elegant place to reside in but it has now been turned into a town teeming with some of the grossest apartments, devoid of any architectural merit.

"They are soulless monuments to greed and speculation," Mr Scicluna said.