PN MP wants internal meeting on Manoel Island park petition

PN MP Albert Buttigieg has requested that his parliamentary group hold an internal meeting to discuss a petition to give Manoel Island back to the people and turn it into a park.

“Prior to the discussion of the petition in front of the petitions committee, in which our MPs will have to vote, I am requesting our group internally discusses the issue and take a group decision,” Buttigieg told Times of Malta.

Buttigieg has been one of the loudest voices within his party to publicly speak in favour of this petition.

He made this request yesterday, after PN leader Bernard Grech praised the petition for being a good idea but stressed that all obligations under the concession must be honoured. Grech added that the PN will need to properly read the petition first before taking a decision on it.

PN MPs Claudette Buttigieg, Rebekah Borg, Graham Bencini, and Ivan Bartolo have also all signed the petition.

“My personal point and being consistent with my previous statements is that we cannot miss the bus – we must do whatever we have to do, even if we have to think outside the box, if we truly mean what we say about the well-being of our citizens. All world advancements were once ‘nice dreams’,” Buttigieg said.

‘A call that deserves to be taken seriously’

Claudette Buttigieg acknowledged that there are legalities, and that Grech did right to flag them, but she felt that it was possible to “find a middle ground”.

Environment spokesperson Rebekah Borg said the petition is a “call that deserves to be taken seriously”.

“On a personal level, I signed the petition for Manoel Island on principle, because I strongly believe that Malta urgently needs more open, public spaces for the benefit of current and future generations,” Borg added.

Ivan Bartolo strongly praised Moviment Graffiti’s Robert Louis Fenech, who pushed for the petition and added that he felt like it was his “duty to sign” the petition.

“It’s time to give land back to the people and create an open space for families to enjoy. Ideally, a place where not cars are allowed,” Graham Bencini said, adding that he signed the petition in his personal capacity.

MIDI was awarded a 99-year emphyteutical lease for Manoel Island and Tigné Point in June 2000. The developers plan on constructing over 300 luxury apartments, commercial facilities, green open spaces and recreational facilities.

The parliamentary petition, entitled Manoel Island Post Għalina (A Place for Us), received over 29,000 signatures by the time it closed on Sunday. The petition urges the government to drop its concession contract with developers MIDI and turn the island into a public park.

The petition will now be heard by a parliamentary petitions committee, which includes members from both sides of the House and will vote on whether the petition should be debated and put to a vote in parliament.

The campaign is being led by Moviment Graffitti and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and has been endorsed by over 40 organisations and NGOs, including Din l-Art Ħelwa, Richmond Foundation, the Church’s Environment Commission, and Kamra tal-Periti.

Activists are arguing that the contract states that the project must be completed by March 2026. If developers fail to complete the project by this date, activists are saying that the government can drop the concession.

The original deadline was March 2023, but it was automatically extended.

Prime Minister Robert Abela has pushed back against the petition, while Environment Minister Miriam Dalli insisted that the government’s hands are tied.

Former labour prime minister Alfred Sant and minister Evarist Bartolo went against the stance of their former party and have supported the petition.

Green party ADPD and centrist party Momentum have both supported the campaign as well.