Under British rule, the population of Cospicua was shut out from its shoreline, beginning with the construction of the Admiralty’s Dockyard wall in 1862, cutting off all public access to the foreshore of Dockyard Creek, followed by the loss of access to the foreshore in French Creek for the construction of the new Admiralty Għajn Dwieli docks.

Likewise, public access to Dockyard Creek from Vittoriosa was limited while the foreshore of Fort St Angelo, that below the Bighi Naval Hospital and that of Fort Ricasoli and the Lido, were guarded by military police.

The ‘compensation’ under British rule was employment: in 1955 there were 13,000 Maltese jobs in the dockyards.

Once again today, public access is being denied to the foreshore of Fort Ricasoli, closed for the past five years, and to the foreshore of Fort St Angelo, closed for the past seven. The same seems about to happen at Bighi, with its chain of offshore fish farms. Part of “the jewel in the crown of Malta”, Fort St Angelo, has already been offloaded. The inner part of the castle, and perhaps the public foreshore, is being quietly privatised to provide access to a private spa development, leaving in Heritage Malta’s hands access to only some areas of the battlements.

A recent issue of Luxury Yacht Charter and Super Yacht News had promotional prices for berthing in Grand Harbour Marina on the Vittoriosa foreshore. They ranged from €839 to €7,767, excluding VAT and stamp duty, and the annual berth service charges of €39/m2.

One gathers that the then Maltese government reduced the Budget deficit through the sale of the Grand Harbour Marina lease but to what extent have employment opportunities for the local population increased as a consequence of this modern development?

If the return to the local population for the loss of some public access is the opportunity of more local employment then, doubtless, as under the British, nothing more need be said.