He’s got cheek, I’ll give him that. Transport Minister Ian Borg has, so far, been the only one to speak clearly in favour of a marina in Marsascala. I’ll grant him that too, despite the usual skullduggery behind his logic, which can still be defined as skewed.
Back from his holidays with an enviable, certainly ministerial suntan, Borg set off to confidently brush off any criticisms of his plans for the marina by boldly declaring that boat registrations have been increasing steadily and that Malta has one of two options: either stopping registrations altogether or build the marinas as per the 2006 local plans.
In doing so, Borg not only assumed responsibility for the project but also left a little electoral bombshell for his prime minister and colleagues in the third district, including Chris Fearne, the very man who could have made him deputy prime minister. So, while Abela, Fearne and most Labour MPs have yet to find their tongues, Borg has already framed the marina as ‘his’ project and sent out a call for investors.
Secure in his Dingli stronghold, there will be no electoral fallout for the prince who has, at the very least, nothing to lose.
Unlike other interviews, Borg seemed rather confident despite the heavy air of controversy hanging around him. He spoke with the conviction of someone who knows the marina will go through and so do a score of fat roosters who have come home to do what they know best. In the usual playground bully demeanour that has coloured his stewardship of the most powerful, well-equipped and arrogant of ministries, Borg simply decreed that Marsascala will become an exclusive parking spot for expensive boats. It’s a question of ‘demand’.
Now, Borg has yet to show us the numbers confirming this sudden spike in yacht registrations. If such a demand existed, the government would have lost no time in publishing these numbers. However, with the construction of a new marina in Kalkara, resurrected plans for a marina in Xemxija and the planned apocalypse in Marsascala, one can only wonder where the surge in demand is coming from.
Can everyone suddenly afford a 20-footer? Recent NAO statistics have pegged the average salary in Malta at a miserly €19,400. So, I doubt it’s because the economy has benefitted everyone equally and turned us all into boat owners.
Interestingly, it seems the cabinet itself hasn’t seen any numbers either. Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia had recently stated that cabinet discusses, decides and moves ahead as “one voice”. A few days earlier, he had answered a question about the demand for the marina with a deft “you should ask the minister who initiated the PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire)”.
Borg’s talent at fibbing keeps on giving. The 2006 local plans have been blamed for pretty much everything under the sun, Napoleonic Wars excepted. And it’s not the first time the planning disaster devised by George Pullicino 15 years ago has been brought up whenever the government – Borg specifically – found themselves with their backs against the wall of public opinion.
Two years ago, the then-planning minister blamed the September 7 protest on these local plans and is using them again now to ram the marina down the throats of thousands of Marsascala residents who are clearly saying “no”. This is what he does best: play the victim card and claiming to be bound by the local plans, he then makes it a point to develop every inch possible (and beyond). Away from the spotlights, scores of contractors are receiving millions of euros in direct orders and tenders. Talking of numbers, this is confirmed by the figures he himself tables in parliament.
The hypocrisy is very clear here. Labour itself had opposed Pullicino’s local plans in 2006, then pledged to review them if elected in 2013. But this didn’t happen and, instead, the local plans were complemented by a series of howlers such as the FAR policy, DC2015 and, of course, the rural policy.
All of these were written by people close to Borg, with the aim of further intensifying pressure on Malta’s most limited resource: land.
Borg – and Farrugia in tow – speak of the local plans as if they were enshrined in the constitution. Apart from the fact that the local plan is a ‘plan’ and definitely far from an obligation on the government to develop at all costs, both ministers know a little about tweaking local plans.
Farrugia recently oversaw and insisted on the change in building heights for the Mrieħel industrial area, with similar manoeuvres afoot in Marsa and Qormi.
Borg must have also noticed the increase in building heights in his native Dingli, after a process to review the local plans had been initiated by the local council, then under the mayorship of one of Borg’s closest allies.
Just like road building, marine infrastructure is another lucrative business. Think of it as a floating goldmine. Developers’ bellies have rumbled at the prospect of a marina in Marsascala since at least 2008. Very soon, when those roosters will have a name, there will be a collective “I knew it”. Because it’s not about the local plans: the marina is a question of personal, very private plans.
The roosters have come home, intent on strangling the chicken that lays golden eggs. The prime minister, well aware of the goings on in his own pen, sits with his head in the sand, thinking all this will pass quickly.
