The Nationalist Party is calling on the Labour Government to immediately publish the full Visitor Carrying Capacity Study for Comino, saying that it is being kept hidden from the public under the pretext of “Cabinet confidentiality.”
The party said that this was revealed by its Environment Shadow Minister Rebekah Borg in Parliament.
The PN said in a statement that a study that directly affects the management of one of Malta’s most sensitive Natura 2000 sites, and which is meant to guide sustainable visitor management, is being treated as if it were an internal Cabinet document, despite its clear public interest and environmental implications.
The Kemmuna u l-Gżejjer ta’ Madwarha Natura 2000 Management Plan (SAC/SPA) states that a tourism carrying capacity assessment of the Blue Lagoon is to be carried out within one year of implementation of the plan, and that the recommendations emanating from it have to be implemented and monitored, the party noted.
This means the study is part of the State’s EU environmental governance obligations and cannot be treated as an internal document, it added.
Following repeated Freedom of Information requests dating back to as early as 2023, the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) refused to disclose the study, claiming it is “privileged” because it is a Cabinet document.
Numerous Parliamentary Questions were also filed by the PN MPs, some dating back to 2022, yet the government MPs consistently avoided publishing the study and related documentation. Publicly available information also indicates that a private company had been commissioned to carry out the study, including assessments of three other zones in Comino, and that recommendations were produced.
Evidence produced in proceedings shows that only after ERA was told that its reply was not sufficient did the Authority produce a 2024 email by the Cabinet Secretary stating that the study was produced for Cabinet and should therefore be treated as internal.
An additional concern emerging from the same correspondence is that the Ministry for the Environment was not provided with a copy of the Cabinet decision, despite ERA being the entity that commissioned the study, and that the email was stated to be intended only for limited disclosure. The email nevertheless had to be produced as evidence before the Environmental Tribunal, the PN said.
The Tribunal ruled in favour of ERA on 15 January 2026, and the case is now being taken further on appeal, including a request for a preliminary reference to the European Court of Justice to seek clarification on the matter, the party said.
“Comino has long been promised real environmental protection so as the general public can enjoy its beauty without it being overwhelmed or degraded. Yet year after year, those promises are broken. We have now again heard that dubious concessions are set to remain for another summer, despite the Minister having said they would be addressed. All of this makes transparency even more urgent: the public deserves to see the carrying capacity study and the decisions being taken in its name,” the party continued.
“The PN is particularly alarmed by the precedent this creates. If the Labour Government is branding an environmentally crucial study as a Cabinet document, then any document the public has a right to see can be withheld the same way, simply by routing it through Cabinet structures,” it added.
The PN insisted that this is not a technical dispute but a question of open government. Keeping this information hidden undermines trust, obstructs informed public debate, and weakens environmental governance.
“The PN reiterates its call for Government to stop hiding behind secrecy and the excuse of confidentiality and to publish the study and all related documentation in the public interest.”
PL responds
The Labour Party, in response, said that "contrary to what the Nationalist Party is saying, the public has had the chance to notice an improvement in the situation that has dominated Comino for many years."
"These were not hidden decisions as described by the Nationalist Party but concrete measures to reduce congestion, while increasing the safety and cleanliness of the place. In addition, in 2025 the bathing area was enlarged while the number of visitors visiting Comino decreased by 68% compared to previous years."
"The second phase of the action plan consists of a project that will improve the facilities in Blue Lagoon while respecting the natural beauty of this area. The project is at the planning stage and will lead to a larger organisation of Blue Lagoon. All these interventions are being carried out with the participation of all the authorities concerned and in consultation with environmental organisations," the PL said.
"While the Nationalist Opposition intends more to criticize and cast doubts, the Government will continue to work and implement solutions to all those issues that affect the people," the PL said.