Manoel Island contract documents weren’t tabled in Parliament, Speaker confirms

A key document pertaining to the government’s contract with MIDI for the sale of Manoel Island and Tigne wasn’t tabled in Parliament back in 1999, Speaker Anglu Farrugia has confirmed.

The controversial contract, that gave MIDI a concession to develop the two prime sites, was the first item to be discussed in the National Audit Office Accounts Committee that was set up in 1999.

The Friends of Manoel Island, a new NGO spearheaded by environmental lawyer Claire Bonello, asked the Speaker to investigate after reading through the minutes of the fateful committee meetings and finding out that they had referred to a bar chart outlining the timeframe for the completion of works at Tigne Point and Manoel Island.

However, the document could not be found, and was neither attached to the minutes of the committee meeting, nor to the minutes of the parliamentary plenary session that discussed the contract.

In a statement, Farrugia confirmed that the documents were never tabled in the House by the responsible minister, a move that went against normal procedure.

Moreover, the actual contract itself was only tabled in Parliament months after the committee had finalised its discussion, and this only in response to a parliamentary question.

The MIDI group recently presented its latest plans for Manoel Island, which include a shopping complex, a casino-hotel and luxury apartments. The plan drew outrage from environmentalists and the Gzira local council, and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat commented that he wants as little development on Manoel Island as possible and for the island to remain a green lung for Gzira.