The Malta Tourism Authority said yesterday it has no policy aiming to turn the north of Malta into an entertainment hub and that it is conscious of the importance of the promotion of a sustainable tourism policy which respects the environment.

It was referring, without saying so, to remarks by its chairman, Sam Mifsud, in a court case, when he said that the authority was keen on shifting the entertainment industry towards Bugibba and St Paul's Bay. The remarks provoked various statements.

The MTA said that the present day procedures in place in assessing tourism projects and the issuance of tourism policy compliance certificates (TPCCs) "involves not just a technical and tourism-oriented review of applications, but also a scrutiny of each application and how such applications conform to the 23 main objectives laid down in the Tourism Policy document and the tasks set out in the Tourism Plan 2007-2011, of which environmental considerations form an important component."