Hawkers' vans lead GRTU to lift support to Valletta access scheme

The Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU has withdrawn its support for the pay to park scheme in Valletta after market hawkers were given a concession to park for free in the city.

The GRTU said hawkers were now taking the premium parking spots in the capital throughout the morning.

GRTU general director Vince Farrugia told The Times the scheme was originally intended to free up parking spots, making them available for short-term visitors. Yet, he said, the government had hammered the last nail in the scheme's coffin by allowing hawkers' vans to take up the parking area in front of the Presidential Palace as well as the road in front of the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise and in Archbishop Street.

"The government has rendered the CVA (controlled vehicle access) system a farce," he said. The GRTU has ordered members to be ready to follow directives unless the situation is not resolved.

The Investments Ministry called the GRTU's reaction "childish", saying all open markets allowed hawkers to park on site.

It said the GRTU had been consulted about the CVA, adding that the fact that vans would be exempt from paying CVA fees had been stated in the draft regulations.

Moreover, it continued, it was not true that the presence of hawkers' vans had a negative effect on the scheme. The 100-odd vans did not occupy more than three per cent of the available parking spots in Valletta, the ministry argued.

It agreed that St George's Square - opposite the Presidential Palace - was not the ideal parking spot; it should, in fact, be turned into a pedestrianised zone. However, it added, the government was committed to retain a stable provision of parking spots.