Former tourism and environment minister Mario de Marco this morning urged the government to be cautious about its plans for a land reclamation project.

Speaking during the Budget debate, he said that Malta had a small coastline and an important diving industry.

The government needed to be careful not to ruin Malta's attractiveness and should therefore proceed with caution and conduct proper studies, he said, adding that in the past there had warnings that such a project may not be viable.

The undersea environment was as important as the land environment and needed to be safeguarded, he said.

In his speech Dr de Marco criticised the government for forcing a number of resignations, including that of the Bank of Valletta chairman.

He said this resignation came at a time when there was major interest in banks and it was a bad decision. It could have been the result of haste or inexperience.

He expressed that satisfaction that Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella had said he would not be changing anything of the previous government’s policy on tourism.

He said that the government had increased the number of airlines coming to Malta and introduced new routes. All this was done in balance with Air Malta’s interests and would result in another record year for tourism this year.

He hoped that it was just an oversight that nothing about tourism was said by the President at the opening of Parliament.