The Labour Party said the government’s “so-called” 20-project strategic plan for Grand Harbour confirmed that no one could beat this government for paper projects. Nationalist governments had over the past 20 years come out with an endless list of projects for the harbour and its environs, which however had remained only on paper, never having been brought to fruition, the MLP said.

The PN in government, it added, had been promising grand projects for Grand Harbour since 1995 at least, when it announced a 10-year plan radically to transform the south of Malta.

The projects included:

• The construction of an arched passageway or bridge from one side to the other of the Grand Harbour;

•A sea transport service to the Cottonera with the aim of providing complete tourist access in the south of Malta;

• The construction of a long road near the Ghajn Dwieli roundabout to Ricasoli for better access to the Cottonera cities;

• The construction of a government administration centre and underground parking facilities where there was previously the Floriana public library;

• Another aimed to address the problem of the lack of accessibility from the Grand Harbour to Valletta city centre;

• The reconstruction of all the pavements and streets in Valletta;

• Dealing with the lack of nightlife in Valletta;

• Alternative accommodation for the families living in Albert town in Marsa and the power station area;

• development of the menqa in Marsa and elimination of the drainage problem, and

• Developing Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara into a tourist attraction.

None of this had been carried out, the MLP said, and the problems of 1995 were still there. And different Nationalist governments had promised huge capital projects for Grand Harbour areas, spending thousands of liri to draw up plans and build models, without any of them materialising. These included a new entrance to the capital, developing the opera house site, developing number one dock in Cospicua, and building a hotel at the strand in Vittoriosa.

Now, 20 years on, another PN government, now led by Lawrence Gonzi, has come out with an exhibition of plans, models and pictures about 20 projects for Grand Harbour. The true reason was that the government was caught on the wrong foot after the Labour Party announced in April it would draw up a regional development plan for the harbour and started a long and wide process of consultation with the communities living around the Grand Harbour.