Abela: 60% of Manoel Island will remain public

Prime Minister Robert Abela on Monday pushed back on a petition calling for Manoel Island to be transformed into a national park, pointing out that in terms of a government concession to developers MIDI, 60 per cent of the island will still remain accessible to the public.

The petition, titled Manoel Island Post Għalina (A Place for Us), drew more than over 29,000 signatures by the time it closed on Sunday. It urged the government and  MIDI to scrap plans for commercial and residential units and return the island to the public.

Speaking to journalists following a speech at MCAST on Monday, Abela said, “The last thing that is ever mentioned when it comes to Manoel Island is that 60 per cent is open space for the public,” he said.

He added that he believed the narrative being shaped around the island was “selective”. 

His comments closely mirrored MIDI’s public messaging. The company has long argued that its revised masterplan puts heritage at the centre and drastically reduces the development footprint, leaving 60 per cent of the area as publicly accessible open space. This includes an 80,000-square-metre glacis park encircling Fort Manoel and reaching the sea on the island’s north and east sides.

Environment Minister Miriam Dalli on Monday also insisted that the government's hands were tied. 

This is not the first time Abela has pushed back against calls for the island to be reclaimed. He previously said that retaking Manoel Island would cost "hundreds of millions". On Monday, he once again stressed the financial implications of reversing the deal.

“Maybe the developer would like it (if the government took back the land) because he will get millions without having to do the development. But would I be using the people’s money responsibly?”

MIDI was awarded the Manoel Island and Tigné Point concession in June 2000. The original development deadline elapsed in March 2023, over two decades later, leading some campaigners to question whether the land could now be reclaimed.

Abela, however, said his hands are tied.

“Contractually, it is difficult for one to do that,” he said. He also distanced his party from responsibility for the concession: “It was not Labour but the Nationalist Party that was in government.”

He emphasised that taking back the development was never part of Labour’s electoral platform nor did it ever say it would. 

The prime minister said that other green spaces were being prioritised, and 19 new projects would be rolled out this year.

He also pointed to four sites, in Luqa, Kirkop, Lija and St Julian’s, that will be transformed into parks under Project Green.

“We have had project after project,” he said. “There is so much public land that can turn into open green spaces. There are so many undeveloped places that can be rehabilitated with a bit of effort and spending.”

From 2023 to 2024, Project Green claims to have completed 28 projects. However, some of those, including Kalkara's Ġnien ir-Rnella, were inaugurated before the agency was even launched. Others, such as Żabbar's San Klement Park and the Bengħajsa family park, were completed shortly after.

Abela argued that the country must strike a balance between environmental access and economic growth.

 "We are trying to see that there is a balance of quality investments and at the same time accessibility for the Maltese and Gozitan population and all who live in this country, so 60 per cent of the project is there for them to enjoy as well.”