The abuse of public land in Malta is an endemic problem, one that is more typically associated with some third-world countries where corruption and administrative incompetence prevail.
One can hardly imagine a more blatant example of the problem than the decades-long occupation of a historical site for use as a residence, with the authorities seemingly powerless or unwilling to eject the squatters.
The late 19th-century Binġemma Fort is a protected site claimed as part of Malta’s heritage. Yet, a Lands Authority internal audit report flagged its illegal occupation and use by individuals who believe they are entitled to it and can deprive the public of it.
That false belief appears to stem from a lease agreement to use the fort for animal rearing, not as a residence, granted to Gaetano Buttigieg by the government in 1981. It expired in 1997. An eviction order was issued in 2009. However, the family stayed put.
The latest from the lands minister is that the family will “eventually” be evicted following legal proceedings. No wonder the family appears convinced it can continue to benefit from the impunity granted to them by inept politicians and public officials over the years.
The right of the people to enjoy public land is a fundamental premise of good public administration.
The primary mission of public officials is to protect ordinary people’s rights and curb abuse by the few with an inflated sense of false entitlement. However, the Binġemma Fort saga is far from the only instance of their failure to do so.
The abuse of public land comes in various forms, even, at times, shrouded under a veil of dubious legality.
Over the last few decades, vast stretches of land have been given over to private entrepreneurs on the pretext of encouraging investment. Numerous are the cases of such prime sites being leased or sold at prices that do not reflect their commercial value.
This apparently legal method of transferring public land to private owners is often further tainted when the use of land is changed to maximise profit. How many hotel projects planned to be built on land granted by the Lands Department have ended up drastically altered to accommodate the development of luxury properties sold at high prices?
The abuse of public land comes in various forms, even, at times, shrouded under a veil of dubious legality
On a smaller scale, Times of Malta reported a few days ago that the Planning Authority plans to take direct action against two Marsascala eateries for encroaching on public spaces. These establishments were served with enforcement notices for breaching planning laws months after residents first flagged up the illegalities.
Is the PA’s slow-motion action evidence of an inefficient system, gross incompetence or collusion in the abuse of ordinary people’s rights to enjoy public land? Given the pattern over the years, the last is a legitimate question to ask. For example, the occupation of the shoreline by caravan owners has been tolerated for decades in places like Mellieħa Bay, Armier, Salina, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and St Thomas Bay.
Governments have always used political patronage to court electoral support from a few abusers at the expense of the rights of law-abiding citizens.
But this practice has long gone beyond the ‘few bad apples’ and this shows very clearly in how widespread abuse of public land has become. This government is not credible when it says it does not tolerate impunity. Ordinary people want a far more determined fight. If laws or systems or people are defective, they must be changed. And squatters must be forcefully removed.
It takes political will to do what is right, for all the people, all the time, an element sadly absent from our political culture.