Manoel Island marina to stay, but no further development – Abela
Prime Minister critical of padel courts work having started before permits were granted
The yacht marina at Manoel Island will stay, along with the Manoel Island Yacht Yard, but there will be no further development on the island except the creation of a national park, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Monday.
Speaking to journalists, Abela said the marina was among the facilities excluded from the rescinded MIDI concession, alongside the yacht yard, the Gżira United football ground and a boċċi club, which will also be retained.
"The marina is already operating there, and naturally it will remain there," he said, adding that its future is a matter for Transport Malta to take up. "Transport Malta must eventually grant a fresh concession after a public call process," he said.
Abela did not directly answer when asked whether he could commit that no inch of Manoel Island would see further commercialisation under a Labour government, instead pointing to the planned national park and the protection of the island's sports facilities.
'I disagree with works before permit’
Asked whether he agreed with the Planning Authority's decision last week to sanction the Gżira United padel courts, which were built before a permit was issued, Abela said the decision belonged to the authority and remained subject to appeal before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal and, eventually, the courts.
"I certainly do not agree with the fact that works started before the permit was issued," he said, noting he had criticised the club several times for beginning works without a permit.
But he said he equally disagreed with the Opposition, which he accused of starting a movement to evict the Gżira club from land it has occupied for decades.
"I do not agree at all that the club has no legal position on that land," he said, arguing that the site had long hosted a sports ground, it is designated for sports facilities, and that the rescission contract was drawn up with the intention that the site retain its sporting purpose.
Lands minister agrees with sanctioning
Lands Minister Owen Bonnici defended the decision to sanction the padel courts on Manoel Island, saying this was a site that belonged to a sports club rather than a commercial venture.
He stressed that the matter predates the government's takeover of Manoel Island and that legal questions surrounding it were not something he would enter into, but said his personal view was that the community of the island should feel part of the project.
Bonnici pointed out that Gżira United had long held possession of what was previously known as the Nicholl Ground, and that the sanctioned area sits in the same spot, "not one metre more," amounting to what he described as 2.5% of the whole of Manoel Island.
Meanwhile, Planning Minister Jonathan Attard stuck to procedures, insisting that the decision may be appealed and the process must take its course.