Michael Falzon is insisting that land reclamation is still on the government’s cards despite reneging on a promise to hold an exhibition of received proposals.

Last year, the government received 21 proposals for land reclamation projects after it issued a call for expressions of interest that closed in December.

An exhibition with the project proposals that had to be held in January never materialised.

But the Planning Parliamentary Secretary yesterday insisted the government had not abandoned the idea and was working to draw up a shortlist of the interested parties.

“We are at the stage of identifying in a more concrete way those projects that at first glance are doable and feasible,” Dr Falzon said.

We are not excluding anything

Acknowledging the controversial nature of land reclamation on the scale the government is considering, he said last year’s request for expressions of interest was only the first in many steps that included detailed studies.

However, Dr Falzon was non-committal on the deadline for the shortlist. He also would not confirm whether one of the projects deemed more feasible by the government was the development of an artificial island off Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq for real estate purposes, as reported in Malta Today recently.

Dr Falzon insisted there were various ideas with some projects focused on real estate, others on sports facilities and others proposing mixed development.

“We are not excluding anything but we have not taken a conclusive decision on anything,” he said.

The 21 proposals submitted last year came from 17 Maltese and foreign companies. Without identifying the sites proposed by developers, the government had said the projects extended between Marsaxlokk and Gozo.

They ranged from extensions of existing facilities to new and innovative projects including a race track, sports facilities, a marina village, boutique hotels, beaches and new green areas, business centres and even floating villages.

The government statement had said some of the projects submitted were beyond Maltese shores but in territorial waters.