Prime Minister urged to join 'national consensus' against Armier squatters

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the Labour Party should renege on a pre-electoral agreement with the Armier boathouses lobby and join the “national consensus” against illegal boathouses, Front Harsien ODZ said.

Earlier this week, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil declared he won’t be tied down to a deal struck by his predecessors with Armier Developments Limited – a move that was welcomed by environmental NGOs.

“The pre-electoral agreements signed by the Nationalist Party in 2003 and 2008 and by the Labour Party in 2002, 2007 and 2013 represented a dark chapter in Malta’s political history which saw the two major parties entering in to agreements with squatters occupying a large tract of public land, thus becoming accomplices in theft,” the Front said.

The Front expressed satisfaction that the PN was no longer bound by the 2003 and 2008 agreements which committed government to hand over 230 tumuli of public land in Armier to Armier Developments Limited on a 65-year lease against an annual Lm157,000 (€350,000) payment. 

The Front also recognised that Alternattiva Demokratika has consistently opposed the occupation of public land at Armier and has never signed any agreement with the lobby.

“It is a shame that the PL is still bound by an agreement signed before the 2013 election which reconfirms an agreement signed in 2002 foreseeing the reconstruction of the village as long as no speculation or destruction of irrigated agricultural land takes place.”

The Front concluded that reneging on these pre-electoral commitments was an important first step. This, however, should be followed upon by a clear and unequivocal commitment against the occupation of public land by anyone including the Armier squatters.

“What the country needs is a national consensus supported by the PL, the PN, AD and civil society to ensure that all those who occupied public land illegally are served with a notice of eviction and given a reasonable timeframe to vacate the land. 

“In this way no party will be able to make political capital by supporting the pretensions of the Armier boathouse lobby. The land should be returned back to the public as an open space for public enjoyment following a restoration plan approved by the planning and environment authorities.”