PN slams Abela ‘hypocrisy’ in blaming Eddie Fenech Adami over Manoel Island concession

Updated with Labour Party statement 

The Nationalist Party has slammed the Prime Minister’s comments in which he said the Manoel Island and Tigné concession was given to “Eddie Fenech Adami’s friends.”

“The same Robert Abela who remained completely silent and inactive on Manoel Island for five whole years is now throwing mud at someone who has been out of politics for years,” a PN statement read.

In a frontal attack on the MIDI consortium, Abela on Wednesday said he has now been tasked with solving the problem Eddie Fenech Adami created.

The PN said Abela and the Labour government have been in power for 12 years, and never took responsibility to ensure the concession terms are honoured.

“As he tries to distract from the fact that Labour, while in Opposition, voted in favour of the concession back in 2000 – even going so far in Parliament yesterday as to falsely claim they hadn’t – Robert Abela has now launched a furious attack full of false allegations against the Prime Minister under whose leadership this contract, approved unanimously by Parliament, was signed,” the PN said.

The party insisted Abela made a U-turn, and is now aligning himself with the Opposition leader Bernard Grech’s position on the issue.

“The public knows the truth. They know who truly moved Malta forward – and who held it back. And they know that, if it hadn’t been for the pressure mounted by the PN led by Bernard Grech, Robert Abela would still be completely silent on Manoel Island,” the PN said. “This is one of the highest levels of hypocrisy ever seen in Maltese politics.”

The PN said if Robert Abela wants to be fair with the people, “he should acknowledge that realities have changed in the last 25 years and show some sensitivity towards the residents around Manoel Island, who are fed up with constant development surrounding their homes – just as even his own MPs have told him, before he conveniently tasked them with analysing the concession to shut them up.”

“Robert Abela alone bears the responsibility for what happens to Manoel Island in the years ahead. Not Eddie Fenech Adami, not the Opposition, and not anyone else,” a statement read.

Only interest is of the people – Labour Party

Reacting to the statement, the Labour Party said the government’s only agenda is that “of the people”.

“The Labour government will not make good, through a multi-million compensation, to the consortium, at the expense of the Maltese workers and families,” it said. “That could well be others' agenda. Considering the suspicious, sudden change of heart that others have had on this project, there could be more than meets the eye.Once again, it shall be Prime Minister Robert Abela to address this challenge, as he has done in previous occasions, for the benefit of Malta and its people.”