Dozens of angry students turned up to the Campus Hub building on Friday, protesting what they call the hyper-commercialisation of campus life at the University of Malta. 

Saying that parking was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”, the students lambasted the university for selling off the land it bought in 2013 for profit without consulting students and failed to use it as an opportunity to bring better facilities that encourage student participation on campus.

The issue came to a head last week when the newly minted Campus Hub tripled its parking fees overnight, going from a €2 flat rate to €6.50 for anytime between five and 13 hours, sparking outrage among the student body. 

Vassallo Group, the company that runs Campus Hub, initially said that the €2 flat rate was a heavily subsidised one that they had introduced while the building was still under construction and that a limited number of discounted parking cards would go on sale.

After students announced they were protesting the parking price hike, the company backtracked and announced that students will be able to park for the day at a €3 flat rate. However, the damage was already done and student organisations announced that Friday’s protest would be going ahead regardless. 

Reading a joint statement from the 22 student organizations running the protest, law student Andrew Drago said that during a meeting between themselves and representatives from Campus Hub and the university, UM could not say what conditions it imposed on the developers that would safeguard the interests of students.

“This leads us to believe there were none,” he said. The building also fails to cater for Gozitan students, they added, as the exorbitant prices of the accommodation being offered are not affordable.

The students acknowledged that the parking issue was only a symptom of a problem, citing inefficient public transport and a lack of safe alternative methods of transport leading to students to opt for their cars. This is the situation that Campus Hub is taking advantage of.

They called on the government to question why, after making public transport free for all, where most still opt for their cars and for a national cycling policy to be instituted for cycling to become a safe and viable commuting option for all.

Medical students Nicholas Gales and Emily Abela highlighted how a new medical school that was supposed to be built in tandem with Campus Hub has stalled due to bureaucratic issues between the government and Vassallo Group.“This 10-storey building that would have given over 1,000 students state-of-the-art facilities to study and free up much-needed space at Mater Dei has been left unfinished because the source of funding remains unclear,” they said.

“Why has been left to languish when Burger King and Starbucks are thriving?”

Law student Giuseppe Gatt said that the “dystopia” of an outlet that showered cash on students and watched them scramble is not lost on them and the company’s u-turn in the face of opposition shows the power of a united student body. 

“The cause we are here for is not simply parking, we are outraged that this land was irresponsibly given away by the university with the express intention of turning a profit off of students,” he said.

“We were not here when this deal was signed off but we are the ones who are suffering the consequences.” 

Without so much as a bookshop in sight, Gatt encouraged students to make use of the new piazza in Campus Hub, but boycott the businesses there.“Show them that we are not piggy banks and that students have a conscience that cannot be bought.”

While there has been sympathy towards the student protest, some critics have blistered at the fact that students are ready to organise about parking, rather than embracing free public transport and other green initiatives as an alternative to driving to campus. Vassallo Group obtained a €25 million concession to build the complex in 2016 and Campus Hub began operating at the start of this academic year, offering a mixture of student accommodation, lecture rooms, underground parking as well as retail and food outlets. 

This is also not the first time since it opened that Campus Hub has courted controversy, after a fresher’s week stunt made headlines. The building hosted an event where a balloon full of €1,000 in €5 notes was hung in the open courtyard and popped, sending the students waiting below scrambling to collect fistfuls of money.