COMINO NEW MEGA RESORT
Comino, green light from the PA for the new mega-resort with 140 beds.
The Six Senses Comino project, with an estimated investment of 170 million, includes the construction of a 140-bed hotel, 16 luxury bungalows, spa and 44 swimming pools in the heart of the protected island.
Presented by HV Hospitality, a subsidiary of the Hili Ventures group, the plan will involve the demolition of the old hotel complex built in the 1960s and now in disuse, together with the accommodation facilities of Santa Marija Bay, now considered obsolete.
The area in question is now part of the protected Natura 2000 site.
The decision was reached with eight votes in favor and one against.
Local reports say that the representative of the municipality of Ghajnsielem opposed the project, raising concerns about the lack of a wastewater treatment plant, light pollution and the increase in volume in an area that, on paper, should remain uncontaminated.
The requests for a postponement made by Moviment Graffitti, which denounced the presentation of new plans just 24 hours before the vote, in violation of the legal deadline of 15 days, were to no avail.
All the designers then withdrew their new proposals, allowing the session to continue.
The environmental NGOs, who have been opposing the project for years, reiterated their criticisms, speaking of an intervention incompatible with the ecological balance of the island, already tested by summer mass tourism.
Among the most contested points, the presence of 44 swimming pools (17 in Santa Marija alone) and the lack of an updated study on the island’s carrying capacity, mandatory according to the management plan and never carried out by the authorities.
The risk, according to the associations, is that of distorting the seasonal balance of the island and transforming Comino into a tourist village open all year round, without considering the damage to the ecosystem and the environment and the problems of waste management.
According to the technical documents, the total gross surface area will increase by approximately 2,360 square meters.
The area intended for bungalows will grow from 3,822 to 4,788 square meters, while approximately 8,244 square meters of already compromised land – currently occupied by sports fields and passageways – will be “renaturalized”, as promised by the promoters.
HV Hospitality celebrated the approval by calling it a “turning point for sustainable tourism in Malta” and announced the planting of over 55,000 endemic trees, plants and shrubs as part of a reforestation project aimed at restoring the island’s typical garrigue habitats. “We are proud to be leading a project that combines tourism excellence with respect for the land,” said CEO Melo Hili.
Moviment Graffitti has a completely different opinion and, through a post on Facebook, spoke of the “destruction of Comino” and of a “bad day for the protection of the environment and for democracy”, promising to continue the battle to prevent the project from being completed.
(Source: corrieredimalta.com)
(Rendering credits: Hili Ventures)
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