MTA ordered to publish secret Comino concession contracts

The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) was ordered by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) to publish, without further delay, the concession and encroachment contracts of public land given to three individuals to hire deckchairs and other amenities in Comino.

The order was issued following a challenge launched by The Shift against the MTA and Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo through a Freedom of Information request.

Both the MTA and the tourism minister resisted publishing these concession contracts for years. These contracts allow the three individuals close to the government to make tens of thousands in profits every summer from public land.

Bartolo even turned down similar requests made in parliament by PN MPs Rebekah Borg and Albert Buttigieg.

Both the MTA and the minister cited “commercial secrets” to justify withholding these documents, even though it has been irregularly extending the contracts through direct orders, in breach of public procurement rules.

The Shift insisted that these documents were in the public interest, and the IDPC upheld the request and ordered the publication of the contracts.

The Commissioner condemned the MTA for its delaying tactics and lack of collaboration with the IDPC office, finding the public authority in breach of the law, insisting this was “considered unacceptable in a democratic society”.

What is the government hiding?

Through various tenders going back many years, the government issued contracts to three businessmen to allow the encroachment of public land in Comino.

They use the land to rent out deckchairs and umbrellas, among other commercial activities, during the busy summer months when the island is invaded by tourists, turning a Natura 2000 site into a frenzy of unorganised mass tourism and mayhem.

Protests have been held regularly against the unregulated occupation of public land. The businessmen involved in the Blue Lagoon took much more land than they were granted, using public space to make more money. The government and the MTA let them do as they please without any enforcement.

When the concessions closed in 2022, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo promised a reorganisation in Comino and new tenders.

Yet he never implemented his promise and kept extending these concessions irregularly year in and year out. His excuse was that he was expecting a new study on the reorganisation of the Blue Lagoon. Two years later, the study has yet to be seen.

One concession is held by Daniel Refalo, a Gozitan businessman who partners with Nadur’s mega-developer Joseph Portelli and his associate Mark Agius, known as Ta’ Dirjanu.

The other operator is Mark Cutajar, a canvasser for Clint Camilleri and the brother of former Gozitan Labour MEP Josianne Cutajar.

Sandro Ciliberti has a separate concession on another bay.