The Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill was not intended for the government to abuse its powers but to maximise the limited spaces available in industrial areas, the Economy Minister told Parliament last night.
Winding up the debate in second reading of the Bill, Minister Chris Cardona said the Bill would provide procedures through which the government would be in position to evict persons from land in cases of blatant abuse without the need for lengthy procedures that increased costs.
Malta Industrial Parks and the Commissioner of Land would be in a better position to control land abuse.
He assured Opposition MPs that the government would take into consideration their suggestions and legal concerns at the committee stage, where the Bill would be refined.
Dr Cardona said that he agreed with Opposition MP Claudio Grech, who had earlier argued that the government would be making a mistake if it did not consider activities that provided an added value to the Maltese economy.
In the last few years, there had been a migration of manufacturing activities from EU member states to non-EU member states.
This was evidenced in Italy, where certain manufacturing companies migrated to Serbia, which was not subject to EU regulations, including those governing State aid.
This migration had to be balanced by an increased competitiveness on an international and regional basis.
While in the past Malta Enterprise had promoted foreign investment without success, it had now adopted a system of micro-targeting, through which it identified regions and industries that would ensure an added value to the Maltese economy. The use of industrial spaces played an important role in this respect. One could not allow activities that were not synchronised with the government’s strategy. Factories that employed people could not be used as warehouses.
Concluding, Dr Cardona said that while the Bill could be refined during the committee stage, it was good in principle.
It followed court judgments on eviction procedures and would only be applied in cases of blatant abuse.
Nationalist MPs Francis Zammit Dimech and Carm Mifsud Bonnici also contributed to the debate.