Robert Abela Says All Options On Manoel Island Are On The Table – Except Buying Out ‘Speculators’
Prime Minister Robert Abela has said he is willing to consider every possible option for the future of Manoel Island — except compensating speculators with public money.
Speaking today following mounting calls to scrap the controversial development concession, Abela said the government is reviewing the entire contract “paragraph by paragraph” and will be meeting NGOs and petitioners next week to explain the full picture.
“Let me be clear — the only red line for me is this: I will not make the Maltese and Gozitan people pay hundreds of millions to bail out speculators,” he said, claiming that investors with political links to the Nationalist Party stood to benefit most if the government were to revoke the agreement.
The Prime Minister reiterated that he has no intention of renegotiating or buying out the 2000 concession granted to developer MIDI, which he described as “a betrayal of the national interest” by the Fenech Adami administration. He said the deal disproportionately favours private interests over the public and questioned the “laughable” value the country gets in return.
According to Abela, the €100–200 million figure being floated is based on the remaining developable land – estimated at 95,000 square metres – multiplied by current market rates in the Gżira and Sliema area. But he stressed that he does not intend to go down that path.
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“Maybe that’s what some of them want — to walk away from the project and have it paid for by the taxpayer,” he said. “They’ve already made enough off the backs of the public.”
The government is now focusing on whether the concessionaire has met its legal and planning obligations, particularly under Clause 8 of the agreement, which Abela confirmed is under legal review. If a breach is found, the Prime Minister did not exclude termination of the deal.
He also hit back at PN MPs Beppe Fenech Adami and Mario de Marco, accusing them of feigning outrage over a concession signed by a Nationalist administration in which their own relatives were ministers and prime minister.
“I’m left to solve a problem created 25 years ago,” Abela said. “Just like I’ve had to fix other messes.”
While he said no decision has yet been taken, Abela insisted that the public will be given all the facts before any way forward is chosen — and made clear that, unlike his predecessors, he will not put donor interests above national priorities.
The government is expected to meet civil society groups in the coming days, after more than 30,000 people signed a petition calling for Manoel Island to be reclaimed as a national heritage park.
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