Following a month-long struggle to open public access to Manoel Island and efforts to stop commercialisation of the whole area, Moviment Graffitti is still unhappy with plans to commercially develop parts of Manoel Island. However, it views positively the Guardianship Agreement signed with the Gżira Local Council, based on a revised Masterplan for Manoel Island with a downscaled level of development, and the setting up of a watchdog, the Manoel Island Foundation, to ensure that MIDI honours this agreement.
This Agreement and the Foundation constitute a positive development in the context of a ridiculous contract entered by Government with MIDI which, following bi-partisan agreement in Parliament in 2000, gave this valuable place to a private company and could have led to the destruction of the whole island. This achievement has only been made possible thanks to the pressure exerted by people demanding that Manoel Island is saved from developers’ greed.
The fact that it was not possible to save all of Manoel Island should serve as an eye-opener to the dangers of privatising public land. The people will not benefit from a hotel in the historical Lazzaretto hospital, nor from the building of luxury villas in an already over-commercialised area. Unfortunately, similar privatisation processes continue unabated to this very day, with lands such as the ITS site and Żonqor recently transferred to private companies, and plans for the White Rocks to suffer the same fate. The case of Manoel Island shows that when public land is privatised, not only is it siphoned from the people and gifted to the rich, but it is also used for projects that are harmful to the surrounding communities.
It is only by organising ourselves against such powerful interests that we can effectively resist the transformation of Malta into one entirely built, commercial, clogged and polluted rock.
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Manoel Island għandu jiftħilna għajnejna għall-perikli marbuta mal-privatizzazzjoni t’art pubblika
Ware ġlieda li damet xahar sabiex ikun hemm aċċess pubbliku għal Manoel Island u sforzi sabiex titwaqqaf il-kummerċjalizzazzjoni sħiħa tal-post, il-Moviment Graffitti mhux kuntent bil-pjanijiet sabiex tiġi żviluppata parti minn Manoel Island. Iżda aħna nħarsu b’mod pożittiv lejn il-Ftehim tal-Ħarsien li ġie iffirmat mal-Kunsill Lokali tal-Gżira, ibbażat fuq reviżjoni tal-Masterplan għal Manoel Island li jnaqqas l-ammont ta’ żvilupp, u l-ħolqien tal-Fondazzjoni Manoel Island sabiex tiżgura li l-MIDI jżommu ma’ dan il-ftehim.
Il-Ftehim u l-Fondazzjoni huma żvilupp pożittiv fil-kuntest ta’ kuntratt redikolu bejn il-Gvern u l-MIDI li, wara qbil bejn iż-żewġ partiti fil-Parlament fl-2000, dan il-post ta’ valur ingħata lil kumpanija privata u seta’ wassal għall-qerda totali ta’ Manoel Island. Din il-kisba kienet biss possibbli grazzi għall-pressjoni li għamlu n-nies sabiex Manoel Island ikun salvat mir-regħba tal-iżviluppaturi.
Il-fatt li ma kienx possibbli li Manoel Island jiġi salvat kollu għandu jiftħilna għajnejna għall-perikli marbuta mal-privatizzazzjoni t’art pubblika. In-nies mhux se jibbenifikaw minn lukanda fl-isptar storiku tal-Lazzarett, u mill-bini ta’ vilel lussużi f’żona ġa kkummerċjalizzata ħafna. Sfortunatament, proċessi simili ta’ privatizzazzjoni għadhom għaddejjin ma jaqtgħux, b’artijiet bħas-sit tal-ITS u ż-Żonqor ricentament jingħataw lil kumpaniji privati, u pjanijiet biex il-White Rocks ikollu l-istess destin. Il-każ ta’ Manoel Island jurina li meta l-art pubblika tiġi pprivatizzata, din mhux biss tinsteraq mill-poplu biex tingħata lis-sinjuri, imma tintuża wkoll għal proġetti li jkunu ta’ dannu għall-komunitajiet tal-madwar.
Huwa biss billi norganizzaw rwieħna kontra dawn l-interessi b’saħħithom li nistgħu nwaqqfu milli Malta ssir blata kompletament mibnija, ikkummerċjalizzata, konġestjonata u mniġġża.
