L-MDA tesprimi t-tħassib serju tagħha għall-mod kif f’nofs is-sajf ħarġet sejħa għal Expression of Interest b’terminu ta’ ftit ġimgħat biex art pubblika tingħata b’xejn bl-iskuża ta’ housing affordabbli.
L-MDA ma taqbilx li żviluppaturi, ikunu min ikunu, jingħataw art pubblika b’xejn biex jibnu housing soċjali u jagħmlu qligħ minnu. Jekk il-Ministru Galdes qata’ qalbu li jagħmel dawn ix-xogħlijiet permezz ta’ kuntratti pubbliċi li jingħataw b’mod miftuħ lil kuntratturi permezz ta’ proċess trasparenti, allura għandu jirriforma din is-sistema u mhux jiftaħ il-bieb għall-abbużi billi jagħti art pubblika. Dan għaliex kemm il-Ministru kif ukoll l-aġenzija m’għandhomx il-mezzi biex jimmonitorjaw il-kwalità tax-xogħlijiet li jkunu qed isiru.
Barra minn hekk, hemm sistemi użati f’pajjiżi oħra Ewropej, bħal inċentivi fiskali u private-public partnerships għal min qed jixtri, li joffru parti mill-proġetti tagħhom għall-bejgħ jew kiri b’rati inqas minn tas-suq.
B’mod aktar wiesa’, din is-sejħa se timmina l-fiduċja ta’ min lest jinvesti flusu fil-qasam tal-proprjetà, għaliex se jiffaċċja kompetizzjoni inġusta, fosthom ta’ economies of scale u saħħa ta’ negozjar, li jkollhom xi wħud biss.
Il-fatt li l-artijiet li qed joħroġ il-Ministru Galdes b’xejn qed tiddistabbilizza l-prezz ta’ kull min diġà investa fil-proprjetà tiegħu biex jgħajjes il-familja meta dan ma kellux il-fakultà li jagħżel il-prezz u kellu jħallas il-prezz tal-art.
Il-Ministru Galdes qed jaħseb biss fuq terminu qasir ħafna mingħajr ma jara l-konsegwenzi fuq l-industrija b’mod ġenerali u r-riskji fuq il-banek.
Dan il-mudell hu inċentiv biex il-ħaddiema ma jiddikjarawx id-dħul kollu tagħhom, bil-kontra ta’ kif għadu kemm ħabbar il-Ministeru tal-Finanzi.
L-MDA tinkoraġġixxi lill-Gvern kollu biex ikompli jsaħħaħ l-iskemi eżistenti li qed jaħdmu tajjeb u jabbanduna dan il-proġett li qed isir bla konsultazzjoni u li se jiftaħ il-bibien beraħ għall-abbużi, kemm minn min ibigħ kif ukoll minn min jixtri.
Government Land for Free — A Gateway to Speculation
The MDA expresses its serious concern at how, in the middle of summer, an Expression of Interest was issued with only a few weeks’ notice, proposing that public land be granted for free under the pretext of affordable housing.
The MDA disagrees with the idea that developers — whoever they may be — should be granted public land for free to build social housing and profit from it. If Minister Galdes has given up on executing such projects through public contracts awarded in an open and transparent process, then he should reform the system — not open the door to abuse by giving away public land. This is also because neither the Minister nor the agency has the resources to monitor the quality of the works being carried out.
Furthermore, other European countries use systems such as fiscal incentives and public-private partnerships for buyers, which allow part of their projects to be offered for sale or rent at below-market rates.
More broadly, this call will undermine the trust of those willing to invest their money in the property sector, as they will face unfair competition — including advantages from economies of scale and negotiating power — afforded only to a select few.
The fact that Minister Galdes is giving away land for free is destabilising the value of properties already purchased by families who had no option but to choose their price and had to pay the full cost of the land.
Minister Galdes is thinking only in the very short term, without considering the consequences for the industry as a whole or the risks to the banking sector.
This model also incentivises workers not to declare their full income — the exact opposite of what was just announced by the Ministry of Finance.
The MDA encourages the government to continue strengthening existing schemes that are functioning well and to abandon this project, which is being launched without consultation and will open the floodgates to abuse — both from sellers and buyers.