Govt planning drastic hike for Msida berthing rates
Gerald Fenech Transport Malta is planning to increase berthing rates at the Msida and Ta’ Xbiex marinas by up to 40%, Malta Today can confirm.
A spokesperson for the Ministry for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications was terse in a reply when asked to confirm the fee increase, stating that “government decisions will be announced when and if they are taken.”
However the Legal Notice which will announce the fee increase is expected to be published in the coming weeks, sources told this newspaper. The fee increases will be in place during the interim two-year period in which the new private consortium that will administer the pontoons is bound to retain the existing payment structure.
The marinas have been privatised, with the successful bidder being Creek Developments Ltd, a consortium of boat and pontoon owners at the marinas.
Speaking to MaltaToday, Creek Developments director Etienne Bonello Dupuis confirmed that according to the agreement signed with government, the consortium cannot raise fees for the next two years.
However he also confirmed that the discounts normally given by government to pontoon owners would have to go, due to the “significant investment” required to upgrade the marinas.
“As set out in the RFP, the successful bidder is not allowed to increase the rates in the first two years of operation before the proposed capital investment is completed. However, upon the completion of this privatisation process and as stipulated in the RFP, the discounts presently offered will be abolished. We have made it very clear to the marina users that the removal of these discounts has nothing to do with the take-over of the marinas. With regards to eventual increases in fees from year three, these are essential in view of the hefty investment required to improve the present state of the marinas,” Bonello Dupuis said.
However pontoon owners who spoke to this newspaper insisted that they have not been informed by Creek Developments that the discounts will be abolished after the third year of operation.
The marinas are currently in need of a significant shape-up as a cursory visit revealed several pontoons which are half sunk or even threatening to cut loose of their moorings.
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