Around a hundred Gzira residents have turned up at Manoel Island to protest for public access to the popular swimming area. Speaking with The Malta Independent, Gzira Mayor Conrad Borg Manche said that: 

"When we discussed with MIDI group they said that it is not a problem to arrange for there to be access to the foreshore area, but this was just a pie-in-the-sky comment."

Asked what the plan is following the protest, he said:

"We are going to keep on pushing so that something happens. If the protest does not amount to anything, we will be opening up a court case. Nobody has the right to take public land and make it their own, when it belongs to everybody."

Last week the Gzira Local Council filed a judicial protest against MIDI plc, the consortium behind the Tigne Point and Manoel Island projects, insisting that the company had effectively cut off public access to the northern foreshore.

The council held a press conference this afternoon and several residents turned up to show their support.

Also in attendance was Ta Xbiex PL Mayor Max Zammit, who said that:

"On a personal basis, I remember coming here [Manoel Island foreshore] as a child to swim and play. It is such a shame for an area with such great environmental potential to be closed off like this.

"Malta is very small, with localities touching each other. In view of this I feel like whatever effects Gzira, effects Sliema and Ta Xbiex alike. Therefore, I am giving my support to neighbouring localities on issues, such as this one, which have an impact on us all."

In his personal capacity, Sliema councillor John Pillow also attended the protest.

Some members of the public carried placards with messages like: ‘Il-kosta taghna lkoll,’ which means ‘the coast belongs to us all.’ Some residents who spoke to this paper said it was unfair that access to the foreshore had been closed off so that a private company could profit.

The Gzira council says the foreshore has been inaccessible for the last 16 years without a valid reason at law, resulting in a locality surrounded by sea but with nowhere to swim. “Such closure is against the law concerning foreshores as a public domain and goes against the concession contract MIDI signed with the Government since no development have taken place as yet.”

It also argues that Fort Manoel has been left closed for several years and is only used for private functions and that a promised sports complex has been left shelved for 16 years.

MIDI group, at the centre of the controversy, had previously said that leaving the foreshore open to the public is not an option, due to the likelihood of vandalism and drug abuse.