Turning the old power station site in Marsa into a tourism hotspot would be a wasted opportunity and the area should instead be developed for other purposes, the ADPD believes.
In a press conference held on Saturday, the green party argued that the area would be better served if it kept its original focus on the maritime industry.
“This zone’s regeneration should not be tied up to tourism,” said ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo.
The ADPD’s calls come in reaction to an announcement by the Planning Authority that it would be reviewing plans to regenerate the inner harbour Marsa area, with the intention of turning it into a “prime tourism and leisure harbour destination.”
Those plans have the green party alarmed: in its view, Malta is already overly reliant on tourism.
“Tourism has already engulfed too many prime sites on our islands and we should not be increasing our dependency on this sector,” said ADPD candidate and communications officer Brian Decelis.
The party’s concerns are mirrored in a Chamber of Commerce report released earlier this year, which indicated that the tourism sector had already started to feel the impact of oversaturation before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Malta.
Decelis argued that the tourism sector led to low-paying jobs and that rather than seeking to increase tourism numbers, the government should focus on upping the quality of the tourism product offered.
According to ADPD leader Cacopardo, the old Marsa power station area is ideally suited to maritime activities.
The government had previously presented a plan to develop a maritime hub across 175,00 square metres in the area, he noted, with space for industries such as ship repair and yachting services.
“This regeneration exercise should be taken up as an opportunity to re-organise, modernise and increase the maritime sector’s contribution to the national economy while reducing its environmental impacts,” he said.
“However, it does not make sense to shift these activities to outside the regeneration area as this will bring them closer to residential zones in the surrounding localities.”
Marsa’s residential area has spent years in neglect, he noted, and any development in the area needed to take residents into account to ensure their quality of life improved.
“In this early stage of consultation there is still the opportunity to consider alternative scenarios,” Cacopardo argued.
“This consultation should serve as a unique opportunity to consider the best vision for the Marsa harbour area regeneration for everybody’s benefit – a vision that considers all of Marsa and not just one area.”
The PA plans are currently open to public consultation, which ends on January 15.