Manoel Island: A “national park” only for the election

Just a few weeks after the election, Robert Abela’s promise to return Manoel Island to the Maltese people is being exposed for what it truly was: a pre-election pledge that has already begun to fall apart.

Indeed, no sooner had the election passed than the Government allowed a substantial area of land to be used for padel courts.

After the Maltese and Gozitan people paid more than €43 million out of their own pockets to reclaim their land, they are now once again watching it being taken away from them under their very noses, with the full approval of those who had promised to give it back to them.

What will Robert Abela tell the schoolchildren he made walk hand in hand with him at Manoel Island before the election?

How will he justify to the public that, until just six weeks ago, he was claiming to be returning this land to them, only to hand it over to others once the election was over?

The Prime Minister had promised to turn Manoel Island into a national park for Maltese families to enjoy. Yet to this day, those words have not been backed by any legal guarantee defining what a national park is and what may or may not be permitted within it.

The Partit Nazzjonalista had proposed that the concept of a national park be clearly defined in law, together with the necessary safeguards to ensure that sites designated as national parks remain genuinely protected for future generations.

Robert Abela’s Government chose not to do so.

Today, we understand why.

Rebekah Borg
Shadow Minister for Planning

Stanley Zammit
Shadow Minister for Accomodation and Lands

Mark Anthony Sammut
Shadow Minister for Energy and the Environment

17.07.2026