(Adds government reaction)

Craftsmen at Ta' Qali were in the dark about what was happening to them and their business because of the government's broken promises, Labour Party's spokesman for the self-employed, Gavin Gulia, said.

Dr Gulia said in a statement it had already been an insult for the government to decide not to continue with the Ta' Qali project, proposing instead to turn Dock 1 in Cospicua into a crafts centre.

But for Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt to now say that instead of a crafts centre, the government would be embellishing the area, was a lack of respect towards the self-employed who worked in this sector.

Dr Gulia said that no one could say that the Labour opposition was trying to take political advantage out of this confusion. Such behaviour, he said, put off direct foreign investment and put the country off the radar for foreign investment.

But the worst thing was that Maltese businessmen were being made to go through uncertainty, he said.

The government said when contacted that Malta Industrial Parks' reperesentatives were meeting tenants that had the right to operate from Ta' Qali.

An action plan was announced during a consultation meeting a few days ago attended by more than 80 tenants.

The plan's first stage was the drawing up of a masterplan and direct consultation with the tenants. This was already underway and would lead to the signing of new contracts with the development taking place according to the masterplan.

The tenants, a spokesman for the Finance Ministry said, would be able to invest in their factory space, for which they would receive a 65-year emphyteutis. Otherwise, Malta Industrial Parks would undertake the work and let the premises to the tenants.

Substntial cleaning and maintenance work was also carried out on site in the past days.