Michael Briguglio has become the first MEP candidate from a major political party to sign a parliamentary petition calling for Manoel Island to be turned into a National Heritage Park.

“As an MEP candidate who puts people and the environment first and who is free from big business, I signed this petition,” the PN candidate said.

Over 4,000 people have signed the petition, with over 1,500 putting their names to it in the past 24 hours alone

The petition warns that MIDI’s proposed development on Manoel Island, a luxury real-estate village, will threaten the quality of life of thousands for the benefit of the few.

It also cites the destruction of iconic views of the Marsamxett harbour and Triq Ix-Xatt, heavy construction, and increased air pollution as other main causes for concern.

Such a petition will be extremely difficult to see through, as MIDI has been bound by a concession to develop Manoel Island since 2000. If it fails to develop it by 2023, the concession envisages daily fines and potential eventual seizure of the land by government.

Despite all the platitudes, PL and PN have both stopped short of calling for the scrapping of this contract. Even some of the harshest critics of the development, Gżira mayor Conrad Borg Manche and Claire Bonello from the former Friends of Manoel Island NGO, have appeared to accept that this development will take place.

Indeed, last year they set up a foundation to monitor the project and ensure the public’s interests are preserved.

However, the petition insists it is not too late for the contract to be reversed

“These consequences can be avoided. Past errors can be reversed, if the Government of Malta takes action towards, protecting what is left of our cultural heritage and natural environment in the area.”

“This is a historic opportunity for our government to reverse the wrongs of the past and go down in history as champions of the people,” the petition reads.

The petition can be found here

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]