Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1410377
5 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 SEPTEMBER 2021 NICOLE MEILAK DESPITE public outrage over plans for a yacht marina for Mar- saskala creek, Transport Minis- ter Ian Borg dismissed the anger while likening it to the outrage at the Attard Central Link project. "This is like when you had a whole choir of people against Central Link. Now, in three weeks' time, everyone will pass through Central Link and see for themselves wheth- er the trees at the bottom of Saqqajja hill have been uproot- ed, whether we planted more trees, whether bottlenecks will be eliminated, whether cars will emit less in Attard, Lija, Balzan," Borg said. The minister referred to re- cent reports that claimed the marina would help cater to a large number of Maltese resi- dents who are buying pleasure boats. "We're not talking about su- peryachts. We're talking about boats up until 65 to 70 feet that 23,000 Maltese people have. This is the reality of many people. At the same time, we have to respect the openings and bays that people who don't have boats have a right to." Plans for a yacht marina in the Marsaskala Creek were re- leased last month as part of a pre-qualification questionnaire for the award of a concession to design, build and operate a marina in Marsaskala. A preliminary design annexed to the document showed that all the coastline would be taken up by pontoons, leaving little place for swimming inside the creek while raising concerns over the impact on the saline marshland at Il-Magħluq. Residents were widely an- gered by the plans, and have held several protests against the marina. Government ministers have widely skirted questions on whether the marina will be constructed as planned, insist- ing instead that some form of embellishment is needed in the area. While the Opposition vowed to repeal the current plans for a marina, its position remains vague on whether they would be open to a marina of differ- ent design. Borg skirts questions on whether Marsaskala marina will be built as planned or not PN wants fund for farmers who risk losing agricultural land Transport minister likens Marsaskala marina outrage to Central Link anger Ian Borg THE Nationalist Party is proposing schemes that will provide financial aid and bank guarantees to help farmers cover the elevated costs of agricultural leases and be- come land owners. Peter Agius, chief PN spokesperson, said that Malta's agricultural land and Maltese produce is currently in a state of crisis. He said tonnes of Maltese produce are sold every day, and if land keeps being tak- en away from farmers, the whole country's food supply will suffer. The PN is proposing a scheme, whereby active farmers can become owners of the land they till, through interest free loans and bank guarantees. Agius said that the scheme will be open to young people who want to become farmers as well. According to Agius, a PN government will be also launching a scheme to offer di- rect financial help to farmers that can't af- ford their elevated agrticultural lease. This scheme could include up to 70% of the price of the lease, for farmers who produce vege- tables and fruit for the local market. This scheme will be also launched in con- juction with subsidies under the European Rural Programme, that encourage biodi- versity in the Maltese countryside. All the schemes will be completely voluntary. The third proposal is to speed up the regularisation process for the government agricultural leases, as currently there is a long list of pending cases, said Agius. The proposal would see the introdcution of an ad hoc administrative board specifically for such cases. PN MP Edwin Vassallo said that most of the farmers are worried that they will be losing their land and that the Labour gov- ernment has been incompetent and disin- terested in solving this "crisis". He added that the right balance has to be reached between the rights of the land own- ers and the rights of the farmers. Vassallo added that the rights of the Maltese con- sumer for access to fresh produce cannot be breached. PN candidate Rebecca Cilia emphasised that food, especially local food, is vital for the Maltese family values, and therefore lo- cal produce is essential for the community. She said that the income of the farmers has to be sustained. MaltaToday asked Agius whether apart from the proposal to seek Brussels clear- ance for €40 million state fund to help im- porters, the PN plans to promote the local produce market more. Agius said that exports and imports are vital due to the insularity of the Maltese is- lands and by joining the EU, a huge market became accessible to the Maltese. He men- tioned that export costs for the Maltese producer are not competitive with the Sicil- ian ones and said that the PN enacted those proposal to make up for the handicaps of our market. From Left to Right: PN MP Edwin Vassallo, PN Chief spokesperson Peter Agius and PN candidate Rebecca Cilia