White Rocks to be transformed into national park, Abela says

Pembroke’s White Rocks complex will be turned into a national park, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced on Tuesday.

During his Budget reply, Abela announced that the government will be recalling any public calls for development in the area and will instead make sure the land is turned into a national park.

The White Rocks complex was once a vibrant military barracks later repurposed as a holiday complex for British servicement in the 1960s. It has since fallen into disrepair.

Many redevelopment plans were proposed along the years. During the Gonzi administration before 2013, plans were drawn up for a luxury tourist village and sports complex. Later, the Muscat administration toyed with the idea of a village of luxury units. None of the plans ever materialised.

In 2022, the former Nationalist leader Bernard Grech pledged to designate White Rocks as ODZ if elected into government. Years prior, Marlene Farrugia proposed that White Rocks be turned into a national park. However, this is the first commitment by a government to turn the area into a national park.

Abela also said that Manoel Island will be turned into a national park, and that his government has received a clear and written commitment that the planned development on the site will not happen.

Prime Minister Robert Abela delivering his Budget reply (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

It was a rowdy night in parliament as Abela delivered his Budget replica to the House.

Nationalist MP Adrian Delia was briefly kicked out of the chamber by the Speaker for repeatedly interrupting Abela’s speech, having been warned twice prior over heckling.

Because of these interruptions, Abela went slightly over time and had his microphone switched off by the Speaker. Nationalist MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici went so far as to stand in front of a PBS camera to prevent the live transmission.

Paula Mifsud Bonnici standing in front of the PBS camera towards the end of the session

This led to the session being suspended for five minutes after which Labour MP and Minister Byron Camilleri requested a ruling.

Abela made several announcements throughout the night. He said Cabinet will soon approve a new tender for a fourth Gozo Channel ferry, while a new masterplan to regenerate the Grand Harbour will be launched for public consultation early next year.

He said that contracted workers in the health sector will start being paid at par with public service workers, and will be entitled to arrears to the tune of €35 million.

Moreover, studies on a mass transit system carried out by Arup are in their final phases, Abela said.

Abela continuously took aim at the Opposition throughout his speech. He ridiculed the Opposition’s criticism on high levels of government debt and insisted that the PN should be worried about its own debt levels.

He accused the PN of wanting to decrease recurrent expenditure, which he said would have meant cutting major social welfare spending.

While talking about the flagship family tax cut measure in Budget 2026, Abela referred to a proposal from Opposition leader Alex Borg, made on the eve of the Budget, to create a special tax bracket for parents with two children.

The measure is similar to what the government put forward in the Budget, but Abela criticised it because it would have meant leaving single-child parents vulnerable.

Abela also went on to accuse Alex Borg of taking direct policy inspiration from the US Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which also proposed investment accounts for children—something which Borg proposed during his Budget replica on Monday.