Grech backs Manoel Island national park as public support swells

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has voiced full support for transforming Manoel Island into a national park, just days after taking a more cautious stance on the issue.

In a statement, Grech said the March 2026 deadline for completing the controversial project is a perfect opportunity to change course and preserve the island as a green public space.

“While there is still time and no development has yet taken place, let us do everything we can to turn Manoel Island into a national park,” Grech said.

The Nationalist Party leader's comments mark a notable shift from just two days ago, when he responded more cautiously to the growing campaign demanding the revocation of the development concession. At the time, Grech had said the idea of a national park was “a beautiful dream” but stressed the need to “heed the obligations” of the concession agreement, and that decisions would follow after reviewing the petition.

That petition, launched by the campaign Manoel Island: Post Għalina—led by Moviment Graffitti and Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar—has now collected over 29,000 signatures. Activists argue that Malta has changed dramatically since the concession was granted 25 years ago and that Manoel Island should be returned to the public as a green space, rather than a luxury development zone.

At the core of the agreement was the restoration of Fort Manoel (which has been completed) and the construction of residential and commercial buildings, which have yet to begin.

Grech said the fact that no construction has yet taken place gives Malta “one last and only chance” to preserve the island for future generations.

He also took aim at Prime Minister Robert Abela, saying it was the Labour government that had failed to enforce the terms of the concession, despite being in power since 2013.

“The public interest in the case of Manoel Island demands that, since we are still in time and no construction has started, we must do everything possible to transform the site into a national park,” he said.

Grech also called for full transparency, urging Abela to publish the legal advice he has requested on the matter. The prime minister said earlier this week that the government was reviewing the concession to determine whether any contractual breaches had occurred.

Grech said he welcomed Abela’s move, claiming it mirrored a call he himself had made a week earlier.

“Manoel Island deserves better. The Maltese people deserve better,” Grech said. “We are determined, together with the people, to see this beautiful dream of a family-friendly national park become a reality.”

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