Manoel Island officially returned to the public

Updated 1.50pm

Manoel Island and Fort Tigné were officially returned to the public on Wednesday after the government and MIDI signed a contract ending a concession handed to the consortium 26 years ago.

Manoel Island had originally been slated for development, but following protests last year, an agreement was reached between the government and Midi Consortium for the termination of the 99-year emphyteutical grant of Manoel Island and Fort Tigné.

MIDI had requested €78 million but the government ultimately paid €43 million.

Lands CEO Robert Vella and Transport Malta CEO Kurt Farrugia signed the agreement on Wednesday on behalf of the government. Transport authorities were involved in the original agreement as they are responsible for Malta's foreshores.

MIDI plc issued a company announcement confirming the signing of the deed.

Addressing the media following the signing, Abela said the government would be changing the local plans for Manoel Island to protect the site for future generations.

He said initial works on transforming the site into a national park will begin soon.  

Those works will be based on the public consultation that included thousands of submissions, which suggested picnic and pet areas.

It will be "the most beautiful park we have ever seen in our country", he promised.

Abela did not take questions from journalists at the signing, but is expected to do so later today at a Labour Party event.

PL and PN cannot rewrite history: ADPD

ADPD welcomed the formal signing, but said the PL and PN - no matter the spin they give - are not innocent spectators in this saga.

Is it too much to expect an apology for their complicity in the matter, chair Sandra Gauci  and deputy chair Carmel Cacopardo asked.

"Manoel Island was handed over to private developers through a parliamentary resolution approved unanimously by both PL and PN in January 2000, with the emphyteutical deed signed on 15 June 2000. 

"Both parties were accomplices in the privatisation of one of Malta’s most strategic public spaces," they said.

Cacopardo, who is also a candidate in districts 7 and 11, said that while Abela wanted to present himself as the political leader who “gave Manoel Island back to the people”, this was not the result of principle or environmental conviction.

"It is the result of political convenience and a shift in public opinion which made the overdevelopment of Manoel Island increasingly unpopular. It is also a result of the tireless work of volunteers who led a campaign on the issue."

"For years, ADPD consistently argued that Manoel Island should become a public park and green lung in the middle of one of the most densely populated urban areas in the country. While PL and PN parties defended speculative development, the Greens have repeatedly insisted that the public interest must come first."

Gauci, a candidate for districts 6 and 12, said the agreement did not erase decades of destructive planning policies.

While Manoel Island may now be politically useful as a symbol, overdevelopment continues elsewhere unchecked, she said, adding that open spaces continue disappearing under concrete.

"Communities continue to suffocate under uncontrolled construction and speculation. The situation on Manoel Island itself already reflects the failures of Malta’s laissez-faire planning system."