Sant and Bartolo: Manoel Island belongs to the people

Former prime minister Alfred Sant and former minister for European and Foreign Affairs Evarist Bartolo have declared their support for a campaign to return Manoel Island to the public and transform it into a public park.

The two veteran politicians expressed their backing this week for Manoel Island: Post Għalina (A Place for Us), a campaign calling for the site to be reclaimed by the state and converted into a public park. 

Bartolo took to social media on Tuesday to voice his support, writing: “The time has come for it to become the People’s Island.”

“With our islands already choked by buildings, cars, and people, we need to save this island and make it the Island of the people,” he said.

Describing Manoel Island as “a small island with a big past,” Bartolo posed a question: “But what kind of future will it have?”

He said he agreed with those campaigning and petitioning “for this island not to be ruined like Tigné Point was,” adding that the island could be taken back by the government and should be enjoyed by the public.

Sant, writing in The Malta Independent on Monday, also expressed support for the initiative.

“The campaign being conducted for Manoel Island at Gżira to not be given over to the construction of luxury apartments but for it to be transformed into a public park deserves support,” he wrote.

“It doesn't make sense any more for the island to become an extension of the Tigné project.”

The former Labour leader described the Tigné complex as “a monumental disaster, even if commercially, it has made money.”

While he was once in favour of the development, Sant acknowledged that “many of the expectations that were pinned to it turned out to be misguided.”

He concluded: “It would be a mistake to let Manoel Island become another Tigné.”

The petition at the heart of the campaign has already garnered over 6,200 signatures.

It calls for a publicly accessible park in the heavily urbanised north harbour region and urges the government and MIDI Consortium to negotiate the return of Manoel Island to the public. The petition opposes current plans for commercial and residential development, instead advocating for open green spaces.

Led by civil society groups Moviment Graffitti and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, the petition has been endorsed by over 40 organisations and NGOs, including Din l-Art Ħelwa, Richmond Foundation, and the Church’s Environment Commission.

Manoel Island was granted to the MIDI Consortium in 2000 on a 99-year lease. The company has long planned to redevelop the site into a mixed-use complex, but the project remains largely in its early stages and does not yet have a full permit from the Planning Authority.

Last year, MIDI’s CEO told Times of Malta that the project could be completed by 2033, citing archaeological finds as a primary cause of delay.

Although Fort Manoel has been restored by MIDI, much of the island remains abandoned.