Prime Minister Robert Abela has come out openly criticising the 2000 concession of Manoel Island and Tigné Point to the MIDI consortium, saying that the agreement, made under former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami's administration, favoured Nationalist Party donors and did not serve the Maltese public's interests - and now, he has been tasked with solving this problem.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday about the Manoel Island saga, Abela said that the land was transferred for a nominal fee and that the resulting developments, particularly at Tigné Point, did not benefit the citizens of Malta and Gozo.

He also said that Labour MP Edward Zammit Lewis and Labour Party President Alex Sciberras have been enlisted to analyse the concession for possible breaches.

Both have previously expressed concerns about the agreement, with Sciberras being a signatory of a petition advocating for the return of Manoel Island to the public as a green space, and Zammit Lewis taking a critical stance on the concession.

Abela, who previously served as a legal advisor for the Planning Authority, said that he was the only one to challenge the consortium's actions in his days as a lawyer under the Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat administrations.

He said that no one stood up to them, and the consortium did as it pleased, just as it had amended the master plan as it wished.

"With me, they will not do what they please, and that is why next Friday I will be meeting representatives of the petition and then I will speak with representatives of MIDI's 5,000 bondholders and small shareholders.

He warned that if any breaches of the concession agreement are found, the consortium would be held accountable, and it would have to pay the price.

The petition, led by Moviment Graffitti and Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, has garnered over 29,000 signatures, reflecting public demand for Manoel Island to be preserved as a national green park, as opposed to a luxury development zone.