Parking permits have made the headlines once again mainly thanks to Sliema’s proposed time restricted parking and the country-wide plan to allocate 300 streets around Malta to residents. Pietà and St Julian’s already have something similar in place though the Court has ruled against Pietà’s by-law and it’s not unreasonable to assume that St Julian’s is similarly wrong.
Comments in the press so far have tackled the situation from a narrow view, mainly on how it will affect shop-owners and those who visit family especially elderly parents.
The issue though has wider ranging implications. What about tourists who hire a car and spend their time in rented accommodation or stay in a hotel that does not have parking facilities? What about those who travel overland in their own car to Malta? Are we saying that they should trot up to the offices of the local council, waste a few precious hours of their holiday, and hope the mayor is available to issue a permit? And if he’s not available what then? Or if the visitor arrives on a Friday afternoon, what is he expected to do over the weekend, move his car every two hours? Mario de Marco, MTA, MHRA, GRTU wake up and take note!
What about those who own a second residence? If a permit is issued based on the address on the identity card how will they get a permit they are perfectly entitled to? It will be interesting to see how those who changed their I.D address to that of their property in Gozo will get around the problem.
Many PN voters from the 9th and 10th districts go to Sliema to swim or have a meal. They will not be happy at all to find out that one of their MPs supported the very person who plans to limit their swimming or dining time to two hours.
If these ridiculous parking regulations are put into place, the system will be open to abuse as we had in the MMA with the seafarers licences, the ADT with the driving licences and the case of the VAT refunds.
Before devolving more powers to local councils Dr Chris Said needs to take a step back and consider if they are qualified to handle the powers they already have. We’ve had too many examples that point to the negative.
No one will deny that parking is a problem in places like Sliema and Bugibba. However it will certainly not be solved piecemeal with every local council coming up with its own rules and imposing a system that is detrimental to the tourist business and limits access to one’s property, family, friends or recreational facilities in the area.
Local councils are meant to take local decisions. They should stick to keeping the locality clean, improve the roads and provide services to the local community, especially the elderly. When their decisions affect the population as a whole, or impact on areas such as the tourism industry, it stops being local. That’s out of their remit. It’s up to the Government to stop these proposals from being implemented and cancel the ones put in place by Pietà and St Julian’s.
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