Konrad Mizzi orders new valuation of Corinthia land after howls of protest

The government has engaged a new international firm to make a fresh valuation of the St George’s Bay peninsula in St Julian’s, currently occupied by three Corinthia hotels. This would be intended to pave the way for a second consideration of the hotel chain’s request to turn a large part of the prime site into a real estate concession for speculation, The Sunday Times of Malta was informed. However, industry sources said that Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, who is piloting the negotiations with Corinthia, has awarded the valuation assignment to Colliers International – a global real estate services company which counts Corinthia as one of its clients.  In light of this potential conflict of interest, Dr Mizzi was asked who selected Colliers and whether the previous Deloitte valuation, on which the government had based its negotiations, has been scrapped. He failed to reply. When asked for comment, the Corinthia group distanced itself from the government’s decision, saying it had nothing to do with the selection of Colliers International and adding that such a serious firm would have checked for conflicts of interest prior to taking the job. Admitting that the international firm...