Fortina Bids For Private Jetty In St Julian’s Bay As CEO Runs For Presidency Of Nearby Waterpolo Club
The Fortel group, the giant behind the Fortina Hotel headed by the Zammit Tabona clan, has eyed St Julian’s Bay as its next area for rapid expansion, with the company looking to build a new jetty for their own hop-on-hop-off maritime service.
Meanwhile, Edward Zammit Tabona, the group’s CEO, has also recently launched a bid to become president of the adjacent St Julian’s Waterpolo club. However, he was unsuccessful.
The group runs the massively successful Captain Morgan cruises, whose ticket booths and berthing points already take up sizeable portions of the Sliema ferries promenade.
The plans will see hop-on hop-off boat service, similar to the hop-on-hop-off bus concept, also headed by the Zammit Tabonas. The application was submitted by JeanBert Gatt, the Human Resources manager at Fortel.
The project itself seems to run contrary to the government’s plans for the area. After replenishing the sand of Balluta Bay to much fanfare, it seems the government identified the area as a swimming zone for both tourists and residents to enjoy.
Fortel has had its luck of the green in recent years, with the Fortina Hotel controversially changing its lease on a massive tract of land from solely tourism to a mixed-use development with the blessing and approval of Malta’s ruling party.
They also have plans to extend some 180 square meters into Malta’s water to grow their shoreside Fortina Lido.
The Zammit Tabonas were also a crucial part of the proposed fast-ferry service between Malta and Gozo, which was shot down by the Public Contracts Review Board because of irregularities.
Ruth Trapani Galea, a member of the Zammit Tabona family, also forms part of the group set to transfer an old military hospital in Mtarfa into an international school, one the latest state-owned public assets that were siphoned off to a private company.
Political connections are rife within Fortel. Beyond PN Deputy Leader Robert Arrigo serving as an uncle to Edward, Lands Authority CEO James Piscopo previously held shares in businesses with the Zammit Tabona family, while patriarch Michael Zammit Tabona serves as Malta’s ambassador to Finland.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has even thrown birthdays at The Village Kitchen, a restaurant owned by Michael.
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