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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 JUNE 2025 Manoel Island: Robert Abela should not snub his 'shareholders' Editorial THERE is no doubt that MIDI plc enjoys property rights on Manoel Island that emanate from the con- tract signed with the government in 2000. The deed granted the company a 99-year lease on Tigné Point and Manoel Island. The deed allows, or rather, obliges the company to develop the two areas for commercial and residential purposes. The rights emanating from this contract cannot be brushed aside or trampled upon as if they do not exist. In a country governed by the rule of law it is expected that these rights should remain intact no matter what the majority believe should happen. It is the contract that defines when and if any part of it should be re- scinded and if any changes are prospected, these must be agreed to by both sides. This is the starting point of any conversation over Manoel Island and the ongoing campaign pressuring government to claim back the island as public land. The petition by Moviment Graffitti and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, has found the backing of 29,000 signatories and many more who did not make the deadline. The campaigners are urging the government to take back the island on the strength of a clause in the con- tract that states the project should be substantially ready by March 2026. They insist the takeover should not be hostile but rather a buyback that compensates MIDI shareholders for any work already carried out on Manoel Island. The island, they insist, should then be turned into a big public park, providing a breather for the heavily congested conurbation around Marsamxett Harbour. The activists' call is not unreasonable albeit border- ing on the unfeasible, not least because if compensa- tion is due to MIDI shareholders this could run into millions of euros. MIDI's shareholding is varied and although the five biggest shareholders (holding 5% or more of the share capital)—Alf. Mizzi & Sons, MAPFRE MSV Life, Ga- san Enterprises, Mark Andrew Weingard and Rizzo Farrugia & Co.—have between them a commanding stake of 56.2%, the rest of the shareholding is held by many other institutional and private investors. It will be a hard sell to reach a deal that is widely agreeable. MIDI CEO Mark Portelli recently told MaltaToday in no uncertain terms that giving up Manoel Island is "not a discussion we can have". He insisted that the substantial completion deadline for 2026 can be moved further into the future because of delays in the planning process and archaeological investigations that had to be completed. He insisted that the contract does make provisions for such de- lays to be taken into consideration. Portelli's words are not surprising. He would not be fit for his job had he spoken otherwise. He has to de- fend the interests of MIDI's shareholders. What is surprising though is government's response. When asked about the Manoel Island campaign, Prime Minister Robert Abela was abrupt in shutting down the argument, insisting the millions that would be due to shareholders would rather be spent oth- erwise and elsewhere. Rather than adopting a more nuanced approach that takes on board the request of his 'shareholders'—the public—Abela simply acted as the company's lawyer. This leader understands the argument that if mil- lions have to be spent to claim back Manoel Island, the question should be asked whether these sums could be spent more judiciously in other areas—greening projects on public land in urban areas; healthcare fa- cilities; educational facilities and others. But the prime minister's attitude to simply shut the door was wrong. While it is expected of MIDI to justify an extension in the deadline by quoting planning and archaeolog- ical delays, we expect the government to carry out its own investigation to determine whether a fresh ex- tension is warranted. As a party to the contract, the government has a duty to assess whether the conditions in the contract have been adhered to; whether the extension be- ing requested by MIDI is justified; and if so by how many years. The government should be requesting legal advice to determine whether the grounds exist for Manoel Island to be claimed back and if so, what sort of compensation are we talking about, if at all. All this can then be debated in parliament—after all both major parties negotiated and voted for the concession agreement. While a 29,000-strong petition cannot be used to deny the company its acquired rights, it should serve as a mandate for government to explore the issue in greater depth. Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant, whose adminis- tration between 1996 and 1998 had conducted nego- tiations with MIDI, in a recent blogpost on The Malta Independent wrote: "I find less than convincing the government's argument for why it should not arrange that Manoel Island gets converted into a green space." It is significant that someone like Sant, who was once in favour of the Tigné and Manoel Island pro- ject, should speak this way. Abela's outright and immediate defence of the com- pany feeds into the perception that politicians are in- debted to big business. He should have at least tried to explore the idea proposed by his 'shareholders'—that is where we expect his loyalty to lie. Quote of the Week "What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians." Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in an opinion piece published in Israel's Haaretz newspaper. MaltaToday 10 years ago Former FMS chief reveals who knew what 3 June 2015 THE former chairman of the Foundation for Medical Services, architect Paul Camilleri, startled Judge Philip Sciberras' inquiry into the Mater Dei Hospital situation by saying that Skanska were holding negotiations with FMS "in bad faith" and "there could also have been fraudulent or malicious intent". Camilleri has revealed a thread of emails which confirm his intentions of keeping the Finance Ministry and the Office of the Prime Minister in the loop over the Project Closure Agreement. More specifically, Camilleri had requested a meeting in January 2009 with former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi to discuss the con- tract closure negotiations with Skanska, the Swedish contractors responsible for designing and constructing the €600 million hospital. Camilleri, who is currently recovering from a serious injury, communicated with Judge Sci- berras' board of inquiry after Gonzi told Mal- taToday that he would have "never authorised or countenanced such a blanket waiver". Al- though the inquiry had already concluded its report, Camilleri felt the need to forward the correspondence to the board. In the email to Gonzi requesting a meeting, Camilleri wrote: "Presently I am drafting a memorandum outlining the salient points; the idea being to first obtain FMS board approval, subsequently Decision Group approval (essen- tially Minister Dalli's approval) and then Cabi- net's approval (and possibly in parallel), Direc- tor of Contracts' approval." On the same day, Gonzi replied that he would be asking his secretary to set up the meeting. The meeting, however, never took place. In a press statement, Gonzi confirmed re- ceiving an email from Camilleri but said that the meeting was not held "due to other com- mitments during that month, including an of- ficial visit to Germany". He reiterated that the Project Closure Agree- ment was never brought to the attention of the Cabinet and went on to add it was "untrue" that the waiver clauses hindered the govern- ment in any way to seek redress for any bad workmanship or fraudulent activity.

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