For four years in the 1990s, Manoel Island formed part of my ‘kingdom’ – that being the parish of Gzira.

Manoel Island, a gzira, gives its name to the entire parish and locality – Gzira.

In my time, Manoel Island was still free and it was suffering from an excess of freedom, like Fort Campbell, like Fort Delimara and the like. It was a lawless area where drugs and prostitution ran riot.

To tell but one episode – I once risked being stoned, not for any religious reason. It was the eve of the feast and I was accompanying the festa enthusiasts as they set up their giggifogu (with police permission) in the middle of the road. But then a black Mercedes came roaring in, did not see the poles and crashed into them. Foolhardy me, I started shouting at the man berating him for damaging the blessed giggifogu (not realizing that the damage to the Merc must have been far greater).

That did it. The man came for me and, when he was stopped by the fence, started throwing stones at me and calling me names that even today I blush to remember.

Manoel Island then was a no go area at night, where only the evilly-inclined ventured. By day it was an adventure playground where the children of Gzira roamed at will in the ruins of the Lazzarett (which were quite dangerous, and probably still are).

Then in the 1990s, the new PN government issued a Development Brief for Manoel Island and Tigné Point. In what was to be my last festa, I put the cover of the Development Brief on the cover of the festa pamphlet. It was the wrong thing to do, of course, but I thought it signified a brilliant future not just for Manoel Island but for Gzira as a whole.

The reality, of course, is far from those heady dreams. The Development Brief led to a tendering process that culminated in the contract signed, when Alfred Sant was prime minister, with MIDI. As we know, MIDI began first with the Tigné part and developed that area into residential, commercial and related amenities. Work is not complete yet and the beautifully restored Fort Tigné, in particular, is still seeking commercial clients, to my knowledge.

As for Manoel Island, the restoration of Fort Manoel has been completed at an enormous cost. The church, actually the first parish church in Gzira, a real Baroque gem, has been restored. So has the gateway that looks across the sea to Valletta instead of the old Yacht Club. As for the Lazzarett, I attended a Mepa hearing some years ago during which the plans for the restoration of the buildings were explained, as well as the building of new terraced houses and commercial units near the new yacht marina. From what I saw today after the environmentalists broke the chains and entered, nothing much has been done.

Apart from dangerous buildings, there are some unique historical remains. Among them, there is, it is said, the engraved signature of Lord Byron when he was, much to his chagrin, quarantined there. There have already been attempts to steal it.

No clear explanation has been given, as far as I know, why work has fallen behind. But then no explanation has ever been given by post-1990 governments why the all-important link road between the Kappara Junction and the Gzira Strand was never built in all these 26 years. When people say MIDI did not deliver what it was supposed to, I am tempted to tell them that the government has not delivered either.

Now the Gzira local council, led by my very good friend the mayor, has decided the time has come for the people to re-appropriate the sea shore, as the latest constitutional amendment says that it belongs to the people.

I ask if similar attempts will be made to liberate the sea shore around St George’s Bay from the five-star hotels. Or if attempts will be made to offer a free campsite not just at Fort Campbell which is in ruins anyway, but also to liberate Fort Delimara and il-Kalanka, which, from what we hear, need liberating. Not to mention the huge swath of land at Little Armier taken over by squatters.

Gated as it was, Manoel Island became a place where vegetation ran riot, but at least, I hope, drugs and prostitution were kept out. This was a huge change from the degradation after the British forces left.

I may be wrong, but as I see it, Manoel Island except for the remaining public parts, is private property in terms of the contract between MIDI and the government. It is however a big pity that the terms of the contract have not been kept and restoration of the Lazzarett and the surrounding areas (which include two or three cemeteries) has not been done, to say nothing of the proposed construction at the very end of the island, near the bridge.

The government, the State of Malta, is a party to the contract and it cannot stand by and allow free trespassing on private property. On the other hand, it must take adequate steps to ensure the terms of the contract are observed. There is, I believe, timeframes in the contract and what happens when the timeframes are not kept.

Clarity must reign, not anarchy.

 

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