Nobody seems to be willing to assume responsibility for the inconvenience caused by the traffic congestion in Floriana after Ta' Sarria Street was closed in preparation for the Elton John concert of July 6.

While the organisers, NnG Promotions, have all the necessary permits in hand, the public is questioning why a permit to close the road three weeks ahead of time was issued in the first place.

This debate has been raging for the past few days and the Floriana local council yesterday held a press conference to explain its stand.

Mayor Nigel Holland confirmed that the council had given the organisers a permit to hold the concert at the granaries but said the council had not been aware that the street would be closed for so long.

The council, he said, was receiving numerous complaints about the traffic congestion and the "absurd" traffic management.

To add insult to injury, the police had now re-routed the traffic to Mall Street which meant that the construction works on the pavement there had to stop.

"The pavement has already been dug up and works are now pending to the detriment of residents and passers-by - we are planning to take action on this matter," said Mr Holland.

He said the council was seriously considering not issuing permits for similar activities on the granaries unless it was given a guarantee that no such inconveniences were caused.

He said NnG Promotions had a pending application with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for the temporary structures being set up at the granaries.

"Mepa has not given the green light but works still went ahead," Mr Holland said.

However, Mepa said later in the day the organisers did not need a development permit.

NnG Promotions explained when contacted they had only submitted an application as a precaution.

Mr Holland denied that the organisers were legally bound by the council not to erect the scaffolding on the granaries, instead of blocking the entire road, to avoid damage.

"What we insist on is that no vehicles should be allowed on the granaries. However, if the organisers took this step as a genuine precaution against damage then it's another issue," he said.

On this matter the organisers pointed to a clause in the council's permit conditions which says that the surface of the granaries could not be dug up and no structures which marked the granaries could be erected.

"If we placed the scaffolding on the granaries we would be marking the surface," an NnG Promotions spokesman pointed out.

Another key factor in this debate is the role of the police. When contacted Police Commissioner John Rizzo said he only got to know about the closure of the road on Monday morning, when he himself got stuck in traffic at Paola.

"I tried to solve the situation over the radio but it did not work out. It was embarrassing for me, to sit in the car, with drivers looking at me as if expecting me to do miracles," he said.

The issue was then dealt with by the police traffic branch, which found ways to direct the traffic flow over the following days.

Mr Rizzo said the police did not form part of the Malta Transport Authority and very often had no say in decisions taken by the authority or local councils, which, he said, gave the go ahead for roads to be closed for various reasons, often causing traffic havoc.

The transport authority said it issued the permit for the road to be closed after liaising with the police and ensuring that the organisers had all the necessary permits in hand.

Authority chief executive Mario Falzon said it was extremely "unfair and unjust" that the authority was being blamed for the chaos in Floriana.

Mr Falzon explained that closing the roads was also at the discretion of the police while the authority had to ensure safe traffic management.

He pointed out that according to the traffic regulations the police commissioner was obliged to give notice of the roads' closure through the Government Gazette, something which had not been done.

"This whole thing is being blown out of proportion and everyone seems to be using the authority as a scapegoat," he said.

Mr Falzon said no such fuss had been created when one of the main lanes in Floriana had to be closed for about three months for the restoration of Portes des Bombes.

Ta' Sarria Street was not a main thoroughfare, he said, and the way traffic was now being diverted had alleviated the congestion so that people did not get stuck in traffic jams for so long.

"We are doing our utmost to minimise the impact. But whatever you do in this country you never win - just imagine the consequences we would have had to face if we had refused to issue a permit for the Elton John concert," Mr Falzon said.