Floriana's fight

I cannot agree more with what was published in The Times of November 21 in the report Floriana Repeats Its Claim For Residential Parking Scheme. All Florianites should rally behind our local council in its fight to have about 500 parking spaces reserved for residents. So far the council's claims have been unjustly ignored by the powers that be.

The citizens of Floriana have been suffering for many years because of not being able to park their cars when returning to Floriana between 7.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on working days, when the place is filled with parked cars belonging to employees working in Floriana or Valletta. Often they end up having to park down at the seafront. Among those suffering are the elderly and the handicapped who find it hard to climb the hill.

It is the duty of Minister Austin Gatt, as a member of Parliament representing the First District which includes Floriana, to take heed of what the council is justly asking for.

Also, the mayor and his councillors were right in claiming that the parking spaces by the Granaries and in front of the Phoenicia should be administered by the council. 

In the same issue of The Times, councillor Christian Psaila, in his letter In Floriana, Not Valletta, was absolutely right when he wrote that the War Memorial was (and still is) in Floriana and not in Valletta. It has become a wrong custom lately that certain parts of Floriana are described as being in Valletta (Valletta Waterfront) or in Pietà (Hay Wharf).