We must safeguard the public land we have left. Here's how to do it

Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s claim that “the reality today has changed” in relation to the Manoel Island concession is a convenient reframing of decades of political opportunism and shortsightedness by both the Nationalist and Labour parties. The reality has not changed - it has simply caught up with us. What is changing is public patience with a political class that continues to dispose of public land as if it were private property.

A few hundred individuals are reaping extraordinary rewards - some adding millions to their already vast fortunes, others becoming overnight millionaires through political connections. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is left to scramble for affordable housing, suffocate under overdevelopment, and watch their common heritage sold off piece by piece.

It is disingenuous to claim that the public only now values open spaces and free access to all Malta's beaches. Maltese citizens have always understood the strategic and emotional value of public land, especially on an island with such limited territory. What has changed is that civil society is better organised, more vocal, and angrier. The warnings were always there; one fondly remembers Julian Manduca. This is not hindsight. This is long-overdue accountability.

Both major parties supported the MIDI deal, and both have now conveniently tried to distance themselves from its consequences. We have witnessed Robert Abela and Bernard Grech attempt awkward U-turns on the Manoel Island development. But neither has taken meaningful responsibility, and both continue to support a system that allows such deals to happen again and again. Not even one week has passed and we see that both parties approve the transfer of a parcel of land in Luqa to Polidano Group.

The Manoel Island concession is just one chapter in a long story of land disposals that favour private interests at the public’s expense. Here is a list of just some of the more egregious ones:

• The Yellow Garage (now MCP car park)
• The Hilton Hotel
• Fort Cambridge 
• Fort Chambray in Gozo
• The Verdala Hotel site
• Smart City
• Part of the Fortina Hotel
• The ex-ITS site in St Julian's
• Ħal Ferħ 
• Comino
• The De Redin Tower in Pembroke
• All the HSBC Branches
• All the Maltacom land/ exchanges
• All the old Marsa Power Station

And there are many more: From Qawra to Marsa, public land and shoreline have been repeatedly squandered.

These are not isolated incidents. They are the result of a system that enables the permanent loss of national land with no constitutional safeguards.

Our proposal: eliminate public land giveaways

Momentum joins the call by Il-Kollettiv for an end to public concessions. It is time to draw a legal line.

We propose a constitutional amendment that prohibits the sale of public land for commercial use and significantly limits its leasing. Under this amendment, any leasing of public land for non-public purposes would be restricted to a very short-term basis. Leases could never imply a transfer of long-term control or benefit to private entities.

Crucially, such short-term leases, granted with a 75% parliamentary majority, would be strictly contingent on the absolute preservation of the land's original state and character. There would be an explicit prohibition against any activity that could cause damage, alteration, degradation, or depletion of its natural, ecological, or historical value. This measure ensures public property, a cornerstone of our collective heritage and future, is never permanently or detrimentally transferred to commercial interests. It guarantees this asset remains under public stewardship for the benefit of all.

Mark Camilleri Gambin.

It is not enough to say “the reality has changed” - it is the system that must change. The bipartisan consensus that enabled these deals must be broken. We must replace political convenience with constitutional protection.

Public land is not a political bargaining chip. It is a shared inheritance, and its protection is a national duty.

Mark Camilleri Gambin is General Secretary of Momentum and a tech entrepreneur.