What are you waiting for to commit Fort Tigné to NGO, PN asks government

The PN on Wednesday asked the government what it was waiting for to commit itself to Din l-Art Ħelwa’s offer for Fort Tigné and ensure the place is opened to the public.

On Tuesday, environmental NGO Din L-Art Ħelwa made a €2.5m offer to MIDI for the fort, matching a promise of sale agreement which the company said it had reached with developer Joseph Portelli for the historic site.

The proposed sale was announced in mid-December, with the developer interested in turning the disused fort into a hotel. 

The prime minister subsequently described the plan as 'obscene'.

On Wednesday, the Opposition said that whatever the final decision, this historic site must be accessible to everyone, as it formed part of the island's national heritage.

"The Opposition notes the offer made by the NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa to MIDI, which holds the emphyteusis, for the fort to be safeguarded in the national interest, and asks what the government is waiting for to commit itself," the PN said in a statement.

"In the context of the many fine words and billboards about the need for more open spaces - public spaces that can be enjoyed by everyone - it would be appropriate for the same government to intervene in line with all commercial obligations and return this historic heritage to the public, while naturally ensuring that whatever is rightfully due to the private sector is respected."

The party added that its leader, Alex Borg, had already pledged the PN's support to the government should it take steps in line with its commercial obligations to return the Fort to public use.

The PN added that it could not, however, "ignore the fact that even on this issue, the government of Robert Abela tried to mislead the public and was caught out in a lie".

It was MIDI itself that exposed this when it revealed that, before seeking private investors, it had itself approached the government to negotiate the return of Fort Tigné, but the negotiations led nowhere, the PN said.

"This is a clear demonstration of the government’s lack of will for this fort to truly be enjoyed once again by the public as an open space.

"Unfortunately, as he so often does, the prime minister tried to politicise this issue through statements by which he attempted, in some way, to shift responsibility onto previous administrations, when in reality, in January 2000, the vote was unanimous and the Labour Opposition at the time voted in favour."

The party called on the prime minister to stop wasting his time attacking the Opposition and instead say whether he agreed with the €2.5 million offer made by DLĦ for the fort to pass into its hands, be preserved, and opened for public enjoyment.

The prime minister, it said, should also say whether the government will intervene and use its powers to ensure this agreement materialises.

Abela should also let the public know what stage the Manoel Island National Park project has reached.

"Here too, the prime minister has, for quite some time now, been boasting and promising that this land will be returned to the public to be enjoyed by families, after being forced to yield to strong public pressure and protests.

"Yet, apart from the prime minister’s assurances that Manoel Island will become a national park, nothing further has been heard about how far the process has progressed."