Hawkers' union rejects GRTU proposal

The Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU has recommended that hawkers be allowed to set up their stalls in Merchants Street, Valletta, further down from the Palace, while roadworks are underway.

However, while the government is prepared to consider the proposal, the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, which represents the hawkers, is not happy with it.

Contacted yesterday, UHM general secretary Gejtu Vella said the area being proposed by the GRTU was devoid of economic activity. Moreover, he added, hawkers could not operate in an area where works are in progress because that could be dangerous.

A spokesman for the Investments Ministry said the government was willing to consider alternative options, including the GRTU's suggestion.

"Our invitation to the UHM to meet to find solutions for the temporary location remains open," he said, adding that, in all the meetings with the government, the union's position has unequivocally been that they are not prepared to consider any alternative to Freedom Square.

The hawkers are resisting the temporary move to St James Ditch - for about two months - while road works are underway at Merchants Street, insisting on moving to Freedom Square. However, the authorities have deemed the entrance to the capital city unsuitable for an open market.

The hawkers are also against their permanent location in Merchants Street being moved a couple of blocks further down, and have insisted they want to return to their original spots once roadworks were finished.

The GRTU said the market's place was in Valletta rather than outside the city walls, adding that temporarily sending the market to St James' Ditch, just outside the capital, was not the best decision, but it believes hawkers are making too much fuss because, eventually, they would end up in the same road they were before, just a little further down. The GRTU said the proposed permanent site for the open-air market is a "very good one", adding that the market should be positioned further down from Valletta's commercial centre so as not to have a negative impact on shops and also extend the commercial zone.

It said the pedestrianisation and upgrading of Merchants Street would attract more people, to the advantage of both shops and hawkers.

The 120-odd hawkers yesterday staged the second protest in two days, following Mr Vella - who said he needed to run an errand to Valletta - and other union officials into Valletta, blowing whistles, displaying sheets of paper with slogans and shouting that they wanted their old place in Merchants Street back. They walked down Republic Street, into Theatre Street and up Merchants Street, chanting slogans as tourists stopped to watch, with some even taking photos.

An almost identical protest was held on Tuesday, but yesterday the hawkers stopped for a couple of minutes in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Castille on their way out of Valletta. Some sat down while others kneeled as they chanted that their place was in Valletta and not in the ditch.

Speaking to the hawkers, Mr Vella said they had been relegated to an area nobody frequented. It seemed the authorities were ashamed to have a market in the capital city, he said.

Mr Vella indicated that the whole union would eventually get involved in the issue. Sympathy strikes have not been excluded, and Mr Vella is insisting the UHM would go all the way to ensure the hawkers' income was not threatened.