It Would Cost Malta Hundreds Of Millions To Take Manoel Island Back, Abela Says
Prime Minister Robert Abela said it would cost Malta hundreds of millions of euros to take Manoel Island back from developers.
Abela was participating in a Labour discussion programme with youths and he argued that this would not be the best use of taxpayers’ money.
This comes amid increased public pressure to take Manoel Island back and turn it into a public park. More than 10,000 people have signed a parliamentary petition calling to scrap plans by the MIDI consortium to develop into luxury residential and commercial and turn the island into a park.
He acknowledged that Tigne Point has been “totally ruined” but argued that the consortium was granted the concession decades ago by a PN government.
However, the price to terminate it and compensate the developers is not worth it for Malta, he explained, continuing to say that there are other, more functional areas that can be turned into green spaces.
The prime minister said that several sites have been taken out of development zones to make way for open spaces, highlighting government-led greening projects such as the Ta’ Qali National Park as examples of what has already been delivered.
Do you think turning Manoel Island into a park is worth the money?