“Successive governments promote land speculation and favour speculators. It is obvious why history repeats itself. It is because PL and PN have the same policy on land use, on the environment and in favour of land speculation,” said ADPD – The Green Party Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo in a statement about the proposed development on Comino.

He argued that, “Comino does not need more buildings, it actually needs less, otherwise the special protection that Comino is supposed to enjoy means nothing.”

Cacopardo went on to say, “as we have seen in the recent past – including in the case of the Hilton development, that of the db Group in Pembroke, and of the public land concession to the Corinthia Group in Pembroke, and now even on Comino, governments have changed the original conditions of the title of public land, so that from concessions for purely touristic use, land speculation is allowed.”

He pointed out that “on Comino the construction of villas will be allowed, even though the whole island is supposed to be classified as protected in the context of the Natura 2000 network of sites. The scandalous conditions in the db Group and Corinthia contracts will now also be applied to the Hili empire which in the past the Labour Party had labelled as – barons.”

“Now apparently, the Labour Party has changed their designation for Nationalist ‘barons’ to Labour ‘insiders and friends’. Because for Labour in Government, it is the speculators who are protected, not Comino,” said Carmel Cacopardo.

He added that, “a policy of equality for speculators. Instead of the government limiting people on Comino, apparently it will allow a luxury ‘village’ to be built with permanent residents on the island. This is absolutely unacceptable.”

Cacopardo stated that, “the proposed development on Comino (PA/4777/20), while on the site of an old hotel, which land was given by concession by the government in the early sixties, will mean an intensification of the use of the land taken up by the hotel.

“Instead of the nine existing bungalows nineteen will be built (700 square meters each) to be sold to private owners. The hotel will have 140 beds. All this on an island that is practically uninhabited, and which is the only island that is a reserve in its entirety. Government should seek to reduce the amount and footprint of buildings. The villa bungalows must be eliminated completely, and the footprint of the hotel should also be reduced!”

He stressed that, “there is no need for intensive development on Comino to rehabilitate and restore natural areas and disturbed land in the beaches of San Niklaw and Santa Marija. The days where public land is given for touristic development are long gone.”

The Green Party Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo concluded by saying, “there is no logical reason why this same land continues to be given over for land speculation. The case of Comino continues to confirm that the PLPN system is a system in favour of the interests of the few.”

Permalink: “Labour’s barons reach Comino” – ADPD