Watch: Government analysing Manoel Island contract for breaches - PM

Updated 8pm with FAA statement

The government is analysing the Manoel Island concession to determine whether any of its clauses have been breached before tracing a way forward for the project, Robert Abela said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Times of Malta, Abela said he has “asked for an analysis from a legal perspective, as well as in terms of planning, timelines and permits, to see if there are any breaches of the concession”.

Abela hinted at possible legal action against MIDI in case of a breach, saying he “is not excluding any way forward”.

“There is no final decision about the matter yet, we need to see what emerges from the analysis of the concession and act accordingly.”

Nevertheless, Abela once again ruled out the possibility of the government buying out the concession, insisting that this would require hundreds of millions of euros in taxpayers’ money, adding that this would be “perhaps the solution they (the developers) want most, to offload the project at taxpayers' expense”.

“The only solution I am excluding is that the government compensates the speculators with hundreds of millions of Euro. They have already taken enough from that concession,” Abela said.

Abela had harsh words for the concession agreement, signed in June 2000, describing the public’s gain from the deal as “laughable”.

“The contract betrays the interests of the Maltese people and favours the speculators,” Abela said, alluding to alleged ties between the project’s top investors and PN.

Abela said the analysis will focus particularly on clauses eight and 20 of the contract.

Clause eight outlines the project’s different phases, describing the timeframes for when each phase was expected to start and be completed. It includes the contentious clause, often highlighted by environmental activists, which stipulates that the development was to be “substantially completed” by 31 March 2023.

Meanwhile, clause 20 deals with the expiry of the site’s temporary emphyteusis.

Last week, a petition signed by over 29,000 people called for the concession to be renegotiated and the island to be transformed into a national park.

Both the government and opposition have so far toed around the subject, insisting that the contract signed with developers MIDI must be respected.

Nevertheless, dissenting voices in both parties have emerged in recent days, with several MPs saying the time is ripe for the project to be reconsidered.

'Unethical behaviour' - Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar on Tuesday claimed MIDI "lost the permit due to their unethical behaviour".

Responding to statements regarding the extra time being claimed by MIDI, the NGO explained Outline Development Permit was granted by the Planning Authority in March 2019 but annulled by the EPRT (Appeals Tribunal) on June 17, 2020. 

FAA referred to an interview MIDI CEO and director Mark Portelli had given to Times of Malta where he had admitted the company regretted engaging Edward Said who was the son of a MIDI director.

"This was contrary to law and highly unethical at best," FAA spokesperson Astrid Vella said.

"This willful misbehaviour caused MIDI to lose at least two and a half years before a new outline development permit was issued."

In their 2016 Bond Prospectus, MIDI had warned investors that the entire development "must be substantially completed by 31 March 2023". A delay of more than three years would lead to the Emphyteutical Deed being rescinded.

"They were aware that their action was putting the emphyteusis in peril," Vella said, adding that this was not mentioned in MIDI's 2020 company announcement.

FAA had complained to the MFSA in 2020 about this and the authority had promised to "look into it". 

The NGO called on the MFSA to reveal the outcome of their inquiry and what steps, if any, were taken.

Vella quashed MIDI's claims that the processing of the permit was held up because of Covid. "Neither the PA nor the EPRT lost one single day because of Covid," she said.

"Midi lost the permit due to their unethical behaviour."

The FAA also called on the regulatory authorities and the Malta Stock Exchange to explain why MIDI's 2024 financial statements, published on April 29, 2025, were issued "without any comment by the auditors regarding the potential cancellation of the emhyteutical grant and its impact on the value inventories in the company’s books."