Ragusa councillor claims businesses face bleak future with Maltese takeover of port

Businesses in the Sicilian tourist port of Marina di Ragusa are concerned about the future after a Maltese investor group took over the port, a councillor on the Ragusa council has claimed.

BusinessToday reported in October 2022 that Paul Gauci, owner of PAMA Shopping Village and co-owner of PAVI Shopping Centre, led a small group of investors which finalised the purchase of the marina in the southeastern tip of Sicily.

Besides intending to launch a daily catamaran link to Malta, Gauci seems intent on developing extensive retail and residential units around the marina, as well as refurbishing the existing ship repairing facilities.

But councillor Gaetano Mauro has now claimed that many local businesses are concerned about the development strategies that the management company is adopting on commercial activities.

Left to right: Ragusa mayor Giuseppe Cassì, PAMA owner Paul Gauci and councillor Gaetano Mauro

"They want to oust local entrepreneurship in order to favour the one coming from Malta," Mauro said, while calling on Mayor Giuseppe Cassì to explain why the Maltese investors were sold state property and why they were allowed to change the intended use of all the ground premises of the infrastructure.

Mauro questioned whether the investors' plans are consistent with the port's regulations in force and called on the mayor to explain if the municipality retains any control whatsoever on the tourist port.

Mauro's claims contrast sharply with previous reports on numerous online portals when the deal was confirmed in October.

In a video posted online at the time, Maurizio La Micela, editor of online news portal TursimoIbleo, had insisted ‘the Maltese investor’ was welcomed in Ragusa, with locals hoping the sale would lead to an increase in tourist numbers.

Sources said that the possibility of a catamaran link between Malta and Marina di Ragusa gained more impetus following news in early October that Ponte Ferries had suspended its catamaran service between Valletta and Pozzallo, a year after launching the route to rival the long-established Virtu’ Ferries.

Cassì himself had welcomed the Maltese investment and said this could only help to further cement the strong ties the southern region of Sicily and Malta already enjoy.

“Malta and Sicily are already linked by daily catamaran trips to Pozzallo,” Cassì said. “I only hope that the Maltese investors involve the local region in the regeneration of the harbour.”

He confirmed that plans were in place for parts of the harbour to be dredged to allow for the berthing of larger vessels.

The tourist port in Marina di Ragusa was developed after Tecnis, a consortium of Italian companies, was awarded a 60-year lease in 2005. The developed received €30 million in EU funds.

The company went into liquidation in 2016, with a number of its top officials under investigation for fraud and misappropriation.

The Maltese investment group, principally Gauci, has now assumed the debt still owed to Italian banks by Tecnis.

The marina in Marina di Ragusa is one of the best equipped in Sicily, with 700 berths for yachts of up to 50 metres.