On rationalisation of building schemes: “One slight consolation offered by the pro-scheme extension camp was that no more ODZ developments would be condoned and that a minimal 0.4% increase was being proposed - if the Hondoq ir-Rummien, Ta’ Cenc, Hal Ferh, Smart City and any other developments still in the pipeline do materialise, the 0.4% figure would have to be revised and any comfort it offered would have petered out.” September 2006, The Sunday Times
On GonziPN’s promise to sanction Armier boathouses: “Even more galling (since public land is involved here) are the overtures by both political parties to the squatters at L-Aħrax, which straddles over all the bay from Marfa to White Tower Bay, for a total of 1,200 ‘units’, made on the eve of the last election in an archetypal case of political clientelism… One may feel snug in the conviction that public uproar against such proposals will probably scupper the unabashed proposals, as they did way back in 2001. However, the groundwork is already being laid by statements to the tune of “it is difficult to speak of illegality when some of the owners are paying rent to the Lands Department, and when government authorities have supplied the owners with electricity and water” by the Office of the Prime Minister. This could effectively become a rubber stamp of the misdemeanours carried out by the notorious Labour administration of the early 1980s.” May 2008, The Sunday Times
On Armier: Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi has bitten the bullet and is seeking to move squatters from public land. While such a stance deserves praise, Azzopardi should go all the way and unravel several other contentious public land issues, besides those relating to billboards and tourist zones.
Such a sentiment was also elaborately expressed in the The Times’ online forum, with various readers asking about whether any action is going to be taken on the blatant squatting at Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and Għajn Tuffieħa barracks, and the ‘boathouse villages’ at Ġnejna, Armier and St Thomas Bay. These issues may exceed the remit of any politician - maybe Azzopardi will prove me wrong and break the mould. September 2008, The Sunday Times
On divorce: “I am personally against divorce since I believe in respecting commitments made. However, I am also conscious of the hardships some people are facing as a result of wedlock – I am thus receptive to analysing individual cases where genuine hardships are being faced by any of the two partners and considering granting divorce in such cases only.” March 2009, Alan Deidun blogspot
On campaign spending by other candidates: “What happened to the financial limits imposed on candidates during their campaigns? Do these apply only to local elections? Are the MEP elections simply a contest of who speaks and shouts loudest? Is the electorate being given the chance to see through the rhetoric being thrown at them? I trust in the discerning abilities of the Maltese electorate who, come June the 6th, will let arguments put forward to prevail, rather than the hollow posturing and vote-raking publicity stunts. Needless to say, the next few months will see so many of these stunts.” March 2009 Alan Deidun blogspot
On Simon Busuttil: “There are elements present who will be around for another four years, and others like Simon Busuttil, who – naturally, after the Prime Minister has won many more elections – I see as the next leader of the PN.” May 2009, addressing PN general council
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“One slight consolation offered by the pro-scheme extension camp was that no more ODZ developments would be condoned and that a minimal 0.4% increase was being proposed - if the Hondoq ir-Rummien, Ta’ Cenc, Hal Ferh, Smart City and any other developments still in the pipeline do materialise, the 0.4% figure would have to be revised and any comfort it offered would have petered out.”
