Consumer association calls on Mizzi to immediately publish Għadira agreement
The Association for Consumer Rights Malta is urging Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi to publish the details of an agreement struck this week for controversial concessions relating to Mellieħa’s Għadira Bay.
Each of the seven operators at Għadira which rent out deckchairs is to relinquish 344 square metres of land from each of their concessions, Mizzi said this week. At a brief press conference, Mizzi said that 2,200 square metres of land will be returned to the public, leaving the beach more ‘accessible’, with a ‘free area’ for people to use their own deckchairs and umbrellas.
Since very few other details were given about the agreement, which appears to be shrouded in secrecy and a political blame game, the ACR ‘urgently’ called “for the immediate publication of the agreement in process before it is finalised.”
The ACR, which has been demanding action on the rampant sun bed and umbrella concessions that have infested public beaches, said it is “very concerned about the lack of information for the general public regarding an agreement that is being discussed between the government and Għadira deckchair operators to free up space across the bay.”
ACR general secretary Grace Attard said yesterday: “While at face value it may seem as if the deal might address the needs of the general public, we do not know what details have been negotiated in the agreement, nor if any compensation has been promised to said operators, or how the freed-up space is going to be used.”
More importantly, according to the ACR, the public has not been informed whether there are any other intentions to turn the Għadira beach into a commercialised enterprise.
The ACR asked whether this was the start of a clamp-down on all illegitimate and abusive operators across the country, and said it looked forward to all the necessary controls being put in place on all beaches in Malta, Gozo and Comino.
The association highlighted the Public Domain Act (2016) “which was created with the aim of safeguarding, among others, the Maltese foreshore for the enjoyment of the Maltese public - present and future generations.
“Private individuals are being allowed concessions to set up beach umbrellas and related beach furniture at an alarming rate. In some cases, they have taken over entire beaches, apart from a narrow passage, as they interpret the law to their advantage.”
ACR insists that it is the government’s responsibility “to use discretion when negotiating public domain sites with third parties, and to ensure that the interests of the public always take priority over commercial interests.”
Mizzi announced the changes on Facebook and Twitter last Tuesday, noting that through this “positive change, the people can after many years enjoy proper access throughout the whole bay.”
The operators had been hauled into a meeting with the Malta Tourism Authority after bathers complained that the bay had been taken over by deckchairs and umbrellas.
The Planning Authority and the MTA are responsible for supervising the placement of the deckchairs and umbrellas, and the process is meant to be monitored on a daily basis.
Mizzi laid the blame for the situation firmly at the feet of PN MP Jason Azzopardi, previously responsible for lands, saying that eight days before the 2013 general election he had granted ‘shameful’ concessions to the operators. Azzopardi, however, said the PN had actually brought order to the beach.