Gzira Mayor Conrad Borg Manche believes that activists who broke into Manoel Island on Saturday, restoring public access, were set up by the MIDI consortium, after the latter left the place to fall to ruin for a full 16 years. “I saw this coming,” he told The Malta Independent yesterday, arguing that the doors to the historic Fort Manoel were left open “on purpose” so that the activists would be blamed for acts of vandalism that in reality took place months and years ago.

The whole saga started when the Gzira Local Council filed a judicial protest calling for public access to Manoel Island’s foreshore to be restored. MIDI rejected this call, saying that opening access to the public could lead to vandalism and drug use. Last weekend activists from Kamp Emergenza Ambjent forced open two gates and part of a fence to allow people to enter the area, which has been closed off since 2000.

The gates were closed again yesterday morning after MIDI claimed that acts of vandalism had been carried out. The consortium agreed to let us in and show us the vandalism that had “taken place over the weekend.”

Officials first showed us a stretch of fence that had been cut open by the activists. “They opened three gates. They locked two of them open using new padlocks and the third one was locked shut.”

Then they took us to the fort’s main gate where a few beer cans had been left behind. The officials pointed out two scratch marks that had been etched on a recently restored wall. Then it was explained that the padlock on the fort’s main gate had been “cut open with a chaser.” Inside the fort we were shown a broken window in one of the buildings. On the roof a wooden door lay on the floor, having allegedly been kicked open. One of two clay chimney tops on the roofs was also dislodged.

“We have had vandal attacks in the past but all these took place after last weekend,” one of the officials explained. Asked if there was a watchman on duty, the official said MIDI operates a patrol system. “But what can one security guard do when there were hundreds of people on Manoel Island?”

‘I saw this coming’

When contacted by this newspaper, Gzira Mayor Conrad Borg Manche insisted that MIDI was not telling the truth. “What they said about the main gate is a complete lie. First of all do they know that there is no electricity there? How would we have operated a chaser? Secondly, the whole padlock is completely covered in rust, which shows that the metal was cut a long time ago.”

Mr Borg Manche said that any vandal acts were MIDI’s fault. “They are the ones who left the side doors open. When we came here on Sunday we saw people inside the fort and we asked them to leave because I could see this coming. Then we pleaded with the security staff to close the doors but they said they had orders from above to leave the doors open.”

The Gzira Mayor said he had not seen any acts of vandalism being carried out. “This fort has been left abandoned for many years and some parts have been vandalized over the years. But what MIDI has done is incredible. They left the doors open on purpose to try and pin the blame on us.”

Mr Borg Manche said he knows Fort Manoel like the back of his hand. “We used to play here as children and I know the place better than them. I know that these supposed acts of vandalism were not carried out over the weekend. ”

He added that he would not be surprised if MIDI had “carried out the vandal acts itself.” MIDI, he said, should have never left the place open and unsupervised. “This is their entire fault. I categorically deny that the people who came on Saturday and Sunday did this.”

‘Total neglect’

Mr Borg Manche yesterday uploaded some 40 photos he took at Manoel Island on his Facebook profile.  These include pictures of overgrown fortifications, a busted door and rooms full of construction materials. “MIDI says it invested €400 million in Tigné and Manoel Island. I doubt if 0.05% of that was spent on Manoel Island.”

He also insisted that MIDI had only restored those parts of Manoel Island which were visible from the outside, as well as the area where it holds private events and “makes money off public land.”

Andre Callus, from Kamp Emergenza Ambjent, corroborated the Mayor’s claims. “We got everyone out of the fort and closed the doors behind us. What we found inside were not acts of vandalism but a total state of neglect. After 16 whole years of neglecting the area MIDI is now trying to lay the blame at our feet.”

Mr Callus said the NGO was now considering all options, including filing a police report against MIDI, which, he said, has no right to close off access to Manoel Island. “The contract says they had the right to restrict access during the construction phase. Have you seen any construction going on in the past 16 years? I haven’t.”  He also cited the Public Domain Act, which declared the entire coastline as public. “We will not be bullied or intimidated.”

Mr Callus said that a clean-up of Manoel Island, scheduled for Saturday, will go on as planned, even though the gates have been closed.

‘Malta belongs to six wealthy families’

Valletta 2018 Foundation Chairman Jason Micallef also weighed in on the situation yesterday, saying that the only vandalism was caused by the Mizzis’ MIDI consortium “when it built those pigeon boxes in Tigné.” Mr Micallef said the Tigné Point development ruined the views from Valletta and Marsamxett.

“This is the legacy that these prima donnas of Maltese commerce will leave behind them.”

Mr Micallef said the Gzira Mayor deserved full support for doing what others had lacked the courage to do for 16 years. “I expect the government to support him with all possible means because this perfect silence is very worrying. This country seems to have become the territory of six powerful families who do not need Manoel Island’s shore to go swimming because they have luxurious yachts. This is shameful.”

Photos and video: Jonathan Borg