In Malta we can speak of two main resources on which our country depends.
The first and most important is the human resource, which has always been at the centre of this government’s actions.
However, coming in at a very close second is the most precious natural resource we are equipped with, land.
With the government owning and controlling around 60 per cent of Malta’s and Gozo’s territory, the government is faced with the responsibility of being the country’s largest ‘estate agent’.
In 1991, the Maltese government and the Holy See signed an agreement under which a vast amount of Church owned property was passed onto the State under a set of conditions and circumstances. Around 80,000 units of property were passed on according to this agreement, which substantially increased the government’s responsibility to manage and control all its land within a socially sound framework.
The property passed onto the state is administered by the Joint Office, which is one of the three departments that make up the Government Property Division together with the Lands Department and the Estate Management. Several of these properties are regulated with contracts of emphytheusis.
In 2001, through the Joint Office, the government launched a scheme by which anyone having a temporary emphytheusis was able to redeem their ground rent, hence becoming owners of their own homes.
This was a very successful scheme attracting thousands of applicants.
The success of the scheme was so great that a long waiting list materialised for the said ground rents’ redemption to be processed and concluded. This is mainly due to a long process of research and verification that has to be carried out in every single case.
One of the cardinal principles by which this government is directed is sustainable development.
This principle is especially important as it guides the government’s drive towards development in a way that is not damaging to future generations.
Moving forward is important, but at a careful pace. The same applies perfectly well to government land, and hence the direction taken by the Joint Office.
The concept of sustainable development is also an important factor within the changes announced earlier this week with regards to the 2001 scheme of redemption. This scheme had been issued to aim for a higher level of social justice while people would be given the opportunity to become the owners of their own homes. The decisions announced this week are designed to stop speculation at the expense of the social principles which furnish the Joint Office.
It is my firm belief that the use of Joint Office, and hence government owned land should reflect the principles of sustainable development. This can be a vivid example of how our values are reflected in our political decisions.
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Dr Jason Azzopardi is parliamentary secretary in the Finance, Economy and Investment Ministry