[WATCH] Nationalist government will give Żonqor back to the people – Bernard Grech

Vowing against taking a top-down approach to planning, Opposition leader Bernard Grech has pledged that a Nationalist government will try to retrieve the public land given to the American University of Malta in Żonqor.

Interviewed on the party-owned NET FM radio station, Grech made several environmental pledges, including outside-development-zones will not be touched under a Nationalist Government.

“Communities will be able to propose, directly or through Local Councils, areas that can be upgraded into public spaces for everyone to enjoy,” he said.

On the controversial yacht marina being considered in the Marsaskala creek area, Grech said the plans as proposed are not acceptable. “That is the people’s bay and it must remain so.”

Grech made it clear that the Nationalist Party will promote development opportunities but not at the expense of the public good.

“As a country we can’t move forward without development,” he said. “We want development, but not at the people’s expense.”

Grech emphasised that all development rules must be adhered to, including the use of specific machinery or making sure that one has the right permits for the work being carried out.

“You have a right to advance in life as much as you want, but you have no right to hurt me or kill me in the process.”

He briefly mentioned Malta’s cost of living, and stated that the Nationalist Party will ensure that the cost of living adjustment will be reviewed to properly reflect rising costs.

Labour Party bypasses the law

Grech heavily criticed the Labour Party overreports that a party-linked company had drafted a deal to receive €200,000 from Tumas magnate and Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.

“Government boasts of how well the institutions are working, and yet every day we realise how they were constantly plotting to bypass the law,” he stated.

Grech went on to claim that labour attempted to “politically assassinate” Giovanna Debono, who’s husband had been charged with 13 charges of misappropriation of public funds, among other things. She had resigned from the PN parliamentary group soon after the arraignment.