[WATCH] Kamp Emergenza Ambjent gives ultimatum to MIDI as Manoel Island clean-up thwarted

Police officers were on site at Manoel Island where Kamp Emergenza Ambjent activists were prevented from carrying out a planned clean-up of the public foreshore

Activists who went to clean up the foreshore found the gate to the island locked
Activists who went to clean up the foreshore found the gate to the island locked
KEA warn they will force their way in again if access to Manoel Island is not restored by next week

The gates at Manoel Island remained shut today, scuppering plans for a clean-up of the derelict site by Kamp Emerġenza Ambjent activists.

Development consortium MIDI had previously said it would taking action to block access to activists seeking to have free passage to the public foreshore.

Although angered at finding the gate locked, Gzira mayor Conrad Borg Manché  urged calm, dissuading the assembled activists from doing anything that would escalate the situation. At least 11 police officers, including two police inspectors and assistant commissioner of police Martin Sammut ensured that the law was obeyed by all present. The assistant commissioner assured the MaltaToday that the police presence was normal practise for large gatherings and was there solely to ensure that public order was maintained.

In a charged speech, Kamp Emerġenza Ambjent spokesman Andre Callus warned that if public access to the foreshore was not restored by next week, the group would be forcing their way in, as they had done in the past. He did not take kindly to the consortium's claims that last week's incursion into the property had resulted in vandalism.

“They have the cheek to say we vandalised the place... This is calumny and we are discussing options with our lawyers,” he said.

MIDI CEO Luke Coppini said yesterday that he was willing to discuss foreshore access, but this token gesture did nothing to ease the anger at being denied access to public land. “We don't want charity from MIDI, we want what is ours by rights, Mr. Coppini. One doesn't negotiate one's rights,” Callus remarked, to applause and shouts of “we want to swim tomorrow.”

MIDI has been accused by its opponents of having left the island to rot for 16 years, allowing rubbish to pile up in the area.

Gzira mayor Conrad Borg Manché  also addressed the gathering, saying the sight of the dereliction had almost moved him to tears. The emphyteutical concession imposed a condition to maintain the area, which had not been honoured, he said. “This is not a joke, this is public property. If you do not honour the conditions [of the emphyteutical concession]...out!”

His proposal to share security costs with the consortium in return for open access on weekends, had been met with a strongly-worded letter from the consortium's lawyers, accusing the council of criminal offences and incitement to criminal activity, he said.

Volunteers who had planned to assist in the clean up were left disappointed
Volunteers who had planned to assist in the clean up were left disappointed

Manché remained defiant, explaining that although the cleanup activity was not allowed to go ahead, the protest would. “Bullies are not going to intimidate us,” he said.

“The foreshore is public land. Not even the government can give it away,” said the mayor, who has become something of a local activist icon last week, after he formed part of a group who used bolt cutters on the chains securing the gate to the island.

“The truth is that they [MIDI] don't care about the area. They only restored the fort to have their parties in it,” he said to acclaim from the crowd.

Despite not being allowed to clean up the gated area, some activists, armed with black dustbin bags, were seen to be gathering litter from the surrounding area as the protest gradually dispersed. A local supermarket chain sent a car loaded with water and biscuits, which were distributed to thirsty protesters.

Alternattiva Demokratika Chairperson Prof. Anrold Cassola was also present at the demonstration. "It is scandalous that the Manoel island project, which had been floated during the Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici administration and originally involved Italy's Prince Umberto and designer Pininfarina, was eventually concluded under a Nationalist administration with Maltese investors and Pininfarina, with land being given to the consortium at the paltry sum of 99 Maltese Liri a square metre. Today, MIDI's flats are selling even at 10,000 Euros a square metre".

The Green Party reiterated what it said was its long-standing appeal for a revision of development plans in Manoel Island, "in order that it can be transformed into a publicly accessible eco-island," said the professor. "MIDI contributed to the overdevelopment of the Gzira-Sliema area, and their plans for Manoel Isand are unsustainable. Manoel Isand should be taken back by the state. “

He said the party didn't want a “repetition of the Tigné disaster at Manoel Island.”

“Government should make amends for the damage which has been caused with the consent of both PN and PL as a result of their misconceived politics of encouraging development at all costs. Manoel Island should be reclaimed from MIDI and converted into a recreational park accessible to the public."

Manoel Island was a construction project-free oasis in an area which had been subject to the forces of speculation for the past 40 years, he said. “Development permits for Manoel Island approved in January 2012 prove that the authorities have no idea of what sustainable development signifies. Things have not changed for the better since 2012.”