ITS must vacate its premises by summer

The Institute of Tourism Studies in St George’s Bay must be vacated this summer, but it is not yet known where students will attend classes in the new academic year, Times of Malta has been told. According to the contract signed between the government and the db Group, the public property earmarked for a mega project has to be transferred to the private developer in the summer months. It stipulates that while the building housing the ITS will have to be vacated by June 30, it has to be handed over to the new owners “vacant and unencumbered” by not later than the end of September. The ITS premises include various amenities, including fully equipped kitchens and specialised laboratories where students have been trained in their respective trades. Although all items within the building will remain government property, everything has to be dismantled and moved out by the end of summer. Asked repeatedly to say where the ITS will function from in the new academic year, given that the building of a new ITS in SmartCity has not yet started, the government failed to reply. Questions sent to Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis over the past two months got a template reply: "The planning...