Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542674
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 JANUARY 2026 NEWS up on election, housing, reform and Greenland Abela addressed several issues raised by journalists. From the timing of the next election to housing Qali, Abela engaged in a frank exchange. If we don't agree on these roles, it would discredit both parties," Abela said. He said it would be particularly damning if the two parties fail to appoint an auditor general, as the office would remain totally vacant until a new person is appointed to the role. "We can't afford to spend a sin- gle day with that office being vacant." However, he said discussions aren't go- ing badly. "I met with Alex just yesterday. But our counterparts also met before this." Audit first, decisions later on Manoel Island Journalist Matthew Farrugia asked him about Manoel Island. Abela said there's an evaluation process happening by the Lands Authority. MIDI is saying it re- stored various areas and has presented receipts of the work done, and now an audit firm is verifying the payments, he explained. Abela said this process will be over by the time the bonds on the project mature this year, and MIDI is cooperating with the government on the whole matter. But for the time being, the government has no specific plans on how to transform Manoel Island once it returns back to public hands. "There are huge buildings on the island that would require major restoration expenses. We need to discuss how best to make use of the space, and right now we're focused on bringing the land back into the hands of the govern- ment. But I totally exclude bringing in speculators." Abela also mentioned the public consul- tation taking place to turn White Rocks into a community space. "When we asked children what they want in the area, they didn't say they want a totally empty green space. They would like somewhere to eat, something like a restaurant." He's not op- posed to keeping it as a natural space, but it would depend on what people want for the area. When Matthew asked about Din L-Art Ħelwa's €2.5 million offer to buy Fort Tigne from MIDI, Abela said he's also fig- uring out the details of the bid. "I assume these will be government funds that DLH will apply for through the new citizenship programme, as is normally the case," he surmised. "I've made myself clear that no hotel should be built at Fort Tigne," he said. "During the Manoel Island discussions we're now speaking about Fort Tigne too. The contract makes it clear that the gov- ernment needs to approve the sale, and that approval will not be given." Resisting housing market controls It was my turn to ask Abela some ques- tions and I decided to turn our focus to the housing sector. I told him that a lot of the government's housing affordability schemes seem to be having an inflation- ary effect in the market, with prices going up 6% year on year. Is the government looking into different sorts of schemes that address the structural issues of the market? Abela didn't deny that some schemes could be having an inflationary effect. "Every scheme will be absorbed in some way or another by the market, leading to an inflationary effect, but that shouldn't stop us from implementing anything, otherwise you'll end up with bigger prob- lems," he said. He started to list some of the govern- ment's property affordability schemes, such as funding opportunities for people buying UCA properties. Before he could continue, I repeated the point on struc- tural market issues. To what extent is a Labour government willing to intervene in the housing market to ensure afforda- ble prices? "One can intervene, but the moment you touch the market there will be reper- cussions. How can I tell someone who bought a rental investment that the value of their property will go down by 20%?" We clarified that housing affordability doesn't necessarily mean a drop in pric- es, but can also mean slower growth in prices, or even a price freeze. "You can do that, but there will be reactions," he said. I wouldn't mind taking on this fight if it was just against big companies, but it would also mean going up against people who, say, invested in an AirBnB rental." However, he also said the government does not want to promote AirBnBs be- cause of the inflationary effect these short lets have on the rental market. Abela mentioned the work being car- ried out by the Foundation for Affordable Housing. This newly set-up foundation between the government and the Catho- lic Church is hoping to provide apart- ments at below-market cost to create a new supply of affordable housing. "I believe strongly in this project. Through this intervention we will low- er the final price by 30% compared to CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE > Prime Minister Robert Abela visited the newsroom on Wednesday to address several issues raised by the journalists