Farmers to be given land on emphyteusis

The House of Representatives yesterday started debating a motion which will enable cattle and pig breeders to acquire on 50-year emphyteusis government land which they have already rented.

Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino said this resolution was needed to enable such farmers to upgrade their farms to modern EU standards. This would mean better hygiene and better conditions for the animals. For example, there would be better waste management and animal waste would not be allowed to filter down to the water table. Animals would not be exposed to the blazing summer sun.

Mr Pullicino said the granting of this land on emphyteusis would make it easier for farmers to borrow for such upgrading. The government was not excluding the possibility that land used for cultivation would also be granted in this way in the future.

He said there were 171 farmers, including 145 full timers, who bred cows, and another 207 farmers, including 96 full timers, who had pig farms.

The minister pointed out that Lm2.6 million were being provided over two years in assistance to farmers to improve waste management facilities, of which 80 per cent came from the EU and the rest from the government. Over a period of less than three years pig breeders would have received Lm3.8 million in aid. Generous assistance was also being given to farmers and MDP for milk production. Despite the opposition's scaremongering before the EU referendum he was happy to confirm that despite milk imports, Maltese milk products had held their own with only slight market loss, and quality had been improved, especially in the case of yogurt.

Mr Pullicino also pointed out that the full time farmers were also receiving Lm800,000 in ad hoc measures and Lm140,000 in restructuring aid over two years. There was also a dairy premium which would this year reach almost Lm240,000 in state aid and Lm100,000 in EU aid.

Clearly, there had never been so much investment in the farming industry aimed at upgrading the sector to new realities where no one needed protectionism to survive. Lm1m were being given over three years up to next year for investment and marketing of local products.

Mr Pullicino said those granted land on emphyteusis would be able to renew the lease after the 50 year period. The emphyteutical grant would remain valid only as long as the land continued to be used solely for animal breeding. No one would be allowed to speculate government property.

The farmers would be charged 25 cents per square metre of space used for animal breeding, excluding fields. Farmers would be responsible for investment made on the site. They would be able to transfer the emphyteusis as long as the nature of the animal breeding activity was not changed.

The agriculture department would be helping farmers with the formalities for them to acquire the land. Farmers whose permits dated before 1992 would not be required to submit environment impact assessments to further develop their farms but they would need to submit a waste management plan.

Parliamentary secretary Tony Abela said he had always known farmers and breeders complaining that the land they worked was on lease, while others were given the opportunity to purchase their lands. This meant the farmers and breeders could not use the land as collateral with banks.

The motion sought to empower them with all the benefits of land ownership, with the ability to transfer the emphyteusis to their heirs after the farmers' or breeders' demise.

This meant that the government was proceeding to actuate what it had always preached, in the process doing away with a long-standing anomaly.

The days when "cowboys" thought they could run farms without adhering to sanitary regulations were now becoming history. Adherence to such regulations could only benefit consumers and encourage them to buy Maltese. On the other hand, producers could now look to the future with greater confidence.

Farmers who wanted to give up their trade would also be able to transfer the land to third parties, so long as the latter were ready to continue with that trade, with the approval of the Commissioner of Lands who could review the conditions. This would ensure the continuation of that trade.

The EU allocated millions of euros for the restructuring of farms, and it was only fair that the best use of such funds was made for the end for which they were allocated. These funds had only been made available through Malta's adherence to the EU.

Joe Brincat (MLP) said farmers and breeders had no public or national holidays, but worked seven days a week to tender to their crops and flocks. Any improvement to their lot was welcome, but EU regulations had made life more difficult than ever for them.

Another problem was that after they built their farms with full adherence to regulations and operated them for long years, legal building development crept up on them and made them face problems which should not be theirs to face.

He said it should be made clear to the farmer or breeder whether or not he could construct buildings once he had taken land on emphyteusis.

Interjecting to explain, Mr Pullicino said the scheme would rule out such development on farms in proximity to urban development, in order to obviate any speculative abuses.

Continuing, Dr Brincat said that any building allocated as a farm when this was not in keeping with its original construction purpose, such as an old fort, would perforce need construction work on it, so long as the area was not intended as a development zone.

Explaining again, Mr Pullicino said the farm would only be allocated once the application had been approved by MEPA, and not the other way around.

Continuing, Dr Brincat said it was imperative for the Lands Department to define the possibilities for each area to be made into a farm. Otherwise it could turn out that if the application was not reacted to by MEPA within a month, the project would go ahead only for it to be discovered later that there was a particular project planned for the area.

Mr Pullicino pointed out that the objective of the motion was for already-existent farms on lease from the government to be transferred to emphyteusis for 50 years.

Other speakers will be reported tomorrow.