<i>Monti</i> hawkers protest against street sellers

Fifty-nine hawkers yesterday filed a judicial protest in the Civil Court against the police commissioner and the home affairs minister requesting them to enforce the law and not allow unlicensed street sellers to set up their stalls near the Valletta bus terminus.

The hawkers explained that they were licensed hawkers and set up their stalls in Merchants Street, Valletta.

They claimed that street sellers were "abusively and illegally" setting up stalls near the bus terminus without a licence from the authorities.

These unlicensed sellers created direct competition for licensed hawkers and all Valletta shop owners.

The hawkers said that several police reports had been filed at the Valletta police station yet no action seemed to have been taken.

For this reason they suspected that the unlicensed street sellers were being protected illegally.

The hawkers also said they had signed a petition which they intended to table in parliament after the summer recess.

They also said that it seemed clear that the police commissioner and the minister, who were responsible for law enforcement, were not carrying out their job and held them responsible for damages.