Debate in a parliamentary committee on a motion for the transfer of land beneath City Gate and the Upper Barrakka for the Valletta vertical connections project was cut short this evening, with opposition speakers arguing it came too late in the legislature and they had their own plans for the sites.

The motion would have transferred the sites to the Malta Transport Authority which would then have allocated them to the Valletta Connections Consortium for the vertical accessibility project, including the rebuilding of the "Barrakka lift".

The motion was moved by Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett.

The opposition speakers said approval of such a motion would not make it possible for a Labour government to carry out its own plans for better accessibility to Valletta, which included a water-filled moat from Marsamxett to Grand Harbour instead of the Valletta ditch below City Gate.

The debate ended in less than half an hour and the motion will now be referred to the whole House.