Abela embraces Comino hotel project to the dismay of Green groups

Representatives who participated in the meeting with the Prime Minister on Friday, told MaltaToday, Robert Abela showed little empathy for the NGO’s requests.

“We asked for the revision of 11 policies presently in place from height limitation to other policies, which are leading to this environmental planning disaster. The Prime Minister showed no indication he would address our concerns. He simply defended his actions.”

The meeting was held in Castille with the Prime Minister who was assisted by Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo, Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia, Environmental Minister Miriam Dalli and Economy Minister Silvio Schembri.  It comes after a national protest which attracted thousands to the streets of Valletta.

The Prime Minister was the only one who spoke from his entourage. The NGO's were represented by Andre Callus, Claire Bonello and Alex Torpiano.

The NGOs were told by Abela that he could find little wrong in the proposed Comino hotel and refused to acknowledge that deckchairs and umbrellas were still present at the Blue Lagoon inspite of claims that all deckchairs and umbrellas had been removed.

The meeting was described as tense, and dominated by Robert Abela’s refusal to budge on any of the NGO’s demands.

In the meeting, the Lands Authority was also criticised for issuing public land to private entities. Two examples were brought to Abela’s attention: public land awarded to Anton Camillieri’s company in St George’s Bay and public land given to GAP developers at Mellieha.

The two sides agreed to follow up on the meeting.

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