Editorial: Is it a real victory for public space?

More than 29,000 signed a petition to turn Manoel Island into a national park. But there are certainly tens of thousands more who will be cheering the government’s decision to push ahead on that request. 

However, the issue has raised many other questions, only some of which have been answered.

One was whether the island should have been part of the concession in the first place.

It is too late to discuss that particular issue: after all, it was ratified by both sides of parliament at the time. But it was interesting to read opinions saying that in the current climate, there would have been no need for it.

Public space is now clearly a far rarer and more valuable asset than simply more construction.

The decision could just be a reaction to the public outcry, but perhaps, just perhaps, it signals deeper reflection on whether the country needs more such mega-projects. And not only for public concessions: a case in point is the massive looming Townsquare project in Sliema, which the country, and Sliema in particular, certainly do not need.

The next question is, then, why on earth did Prime Minister Robert Abela take so long to make up his mind? This delay in the project has been looming for years.

Clearly the contract needed to be respected while the clauses were being met, but the government could be doing MIDI a huge favour taking Manoel Island off its hands.

It has been begging for investors in vain for decades – and the failure of any concrete (pun intended) agreement shows that there must have been flaws in the feasibility, whichever party they came from.

In spite of MIDI’s public statements, the project has now reached the tipping point timewise, giving the government a strong legal basis for the contract to be revoked.

However, were there no national official entities that could have checked the contract?

As it was, the investigations were carried out by Labour MP Edward Zammit Lewis and PL president Alex Sciberras, and while they may have done a superb job, getting an independent and official assessment – say by the National Audit Office – would have avoided any whiff of bias.

Those campaigning for the national park can now only hope that the government has no hidden agenda, and that Manoel Island will really be turned into public space, as opposed to another developer stepping in with a mega-project.

Given the way that the government tries to appease commercial interests, that would hardly be far-fetched.

The other issue goes beyond the concessionaire though: what about those thousands who hold MIDI bonds? Especially if there is the slightest possibility of a default?

It is certainly not the role of government to bail out private investors, even if public land is involved – even though the instability in the capital markets resulting from a default would be extreme.

Indeed, parliament should not stop at Manoel Island but should investigate all the public land concessions to ensure the concessionaires are abiding by the development brief and the contracts. We already know that the enormous site that formerly housed Marsa Shipbuilding is not being used for many of the purposes it was originally aimed at.

While some flexibility is understandable given the COVID-19 pandemic, concessions are meant to create economic wealth and jobs for the public that own it – not merely to put money in the pockets of private investors.