Watch: Malta must honour contract with MIDI, Bernard Grech says

Updated 3.31am with more PN MPs who signed petition

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech has praised a petition’s idea of returning Manoel Island to the public but stressed that all obligations under the concession contract must be honoured.

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.

MIDI was awarded a 99-year emphyteutical lease for Manoel Island and Tigné Point in June 2000.

Speaking to Times of Malta, Grech said that the party has taken note of this petition and described it as a “beautiful dream”.

However, he said that the government must acknowledge and respect the obligations it has as a result of this contract.

“Without a doubt, we need to take note of what is happening. I’m going to be honest, having a national park would be a beautiful dream, but we also need to consider the obligations that one might have,” Grech said.

“We do not ignore anyone, whether it’s one person, whether it’s ten people, or whether its’s 29,000 people. We do not only care about numbers, like the government does when it comes to voting. We genuinely care about everyone’s opinion,” he added.

Grech also insisted that the government must be more transparent about its future decisions regarding the contract.

“As long as there is a contract, that contract must be honoured by both parties, and therefore, if the government, on behalf of the Maltese people, has obligations, it must honour them as well,” Grech said.

He added: “The government has an obligation to respect the country’s commitments of this concession, that was handed out many years ago and features a number of conditions. Therefore, in the name of Maltese citizens, the government is in a position to examine and see what responsibilities the government has based on what it promised years ago.”

PN MP Albert Buttigieg has publicly supported the petition, while sources informed Times of Malta that PN environment spokesperson Rebekah Borg has also signed the petition. Three other PN MPs, Graham Bencini, Claudette Buttigieg and Ivan Bartolo contacted Times of Malta to say they had also signed it. 

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.

'PN will need to read the petition first'

When asked whether the PN will be voting in favour of the petition at the committee, Grech said that the PN will need to read the petition first, before taking a decision on it.

On Monday, Prime Minister Robert Abela pushed back against the petition, noting that the concession allows 60 per cent of the island to remain accessible to the public. A narrative that closely mirrors MIDI’s.

Environment Minister Miriam Dalli also insisted that the government’s hands are tied.

The petition has also received support from former Labour prime minister Alfred Sant and former Labour minister Evarist Bartolo.

The concession agreement took place under a Nationalist government and was voted for unanimously by both sides of the House.

The campaign is 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.

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

'Beautiful dream' is attainable 

In a statement responding to the Opposition leader's comments, Moviment Graffitti and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said the petition does not merely represent a "beautiful dream" but an "attainable one". 

The NGOs called on Bernard Grech to "conduct his research" to understand why more than 29,000  people and more than 50 organisations had supported the call for Manoel Island to become a public park.

They also pointed out that the petition, which Grech said he had not yet read, was only 350 words long and had been launched two months ago.

"The current campaign for Manoel Island to be returned to the public as a national park stems from the fact that the concession between the Government and MIDI for Manoel Island has not been honored by MIDI," the NGOs said. 

"The progress of works at Tigné and Manoel Island has not followed what was stipulated in the contract signed 25 years ago, and the proposed project cannot be substantially completed by March 2026."

The petition called on the government to honour the contract and reach an agreement with MIDI "to find the most favourable solution for all, primarily for the common good."