Valletta pedestrianisation zone being extended

Feral pigeons are definitely pests and need to be controlled, even culled if necessary. Mice and rats are also 'sentient' creatures but nobody (I hope) would protest about them being destroyed..

Strait Street, especially corner with Old Theatre Street - just behind the "Main Guard" , and very near to Palace Square, needs a very urgent lift up, at the moment it is the ugliest place in Valletta.

@joyce aquilina
Dear Joyce,
by made I meant with just stone chippings and tar, not tarmac.
And its been dug up I don't know how many times in these years.
Well, we do live in a mickey mouse country, so how can we expect any better?

The stones on old pavements are buckled having been ridden by cars and trucks. Pointing the joints will not set them right. Nor replacing them, since most date since c1848.
There’s not one car in Valletta that hasn’t been stained by pigeon droppings; not one ledge or cavity that doesn’t have a nest or roost and street or pavement fouled. Placing wire spikes is not enough as experienced but tackling it at the source.
St. Lucia Street from Old Bakery to Old Mint is full of sunken surfaces ofwater services repairs and on-pavement parking with little access for residents and businesses. The part leading to Marsamxett Street has many sunken repairs, considering that this road is one of the most used to exist Valletta.
And when is the problem of the stairs from City Gate to Pope Pius V Street is to be solved. Closing it like it has been for the last two months doesn’t help. Has anyone responsible ever seen any of the residents above, with two heavy shopping bags, having to go all the way round Ordnance Street in the Summer heat? By closing it, only the residents and legitimate users are suffering!

@l galea you said your street was once worked on so now it falls under the local council but our street has never been surfaced and its a small street with just 13 houses and we paid for our street in 1982/84

@ Pamela Hansen - Regarding pigeons, I agree up to the point that there should be no major culling. They are sentient beings like us, Pam, and there must be no culling!

What exactly is the news! South Street from Merchants street to Old Bakery street has been closed to normal traffic for ages causing untold inconvenience to residents at the bottom end of South St.
The hassles I have to go through to help my mother with some purchases and other needs, as she is an elderly Valletta resident, are more than a nuisance.
I sometimes have to go in and out of Valletta several times in the course of one morning or afternoon, hardly helping with the current energy conservation drive not to mention pollution. There are times when it is easier to walk, but not when one is carrying heavy shopping.
I concur with Marvic Psaila that it is an excellent idea for non-residents. No attention was paid to the needs of the Valletta residents many of whom are elderly and need door to door help.
And Emy Bezzina is right on two things (his gushing sycophancy is not one of them) that Austin would do better to sort out the filth caused by pigeons and control the Karozzini to make Valletta a better city. Sorting out the pavements is one thing nobody mentioned!

My friend, 20 years are nothing.
I bought my house 40 years ago and have been married for 37 years.
All my children have grown up and are married, and the only time my street was "made" was in 1986/87 before the change in Government.
Need I say more?

AUSTIN GATT is the undoubted STAR of our Minority Government Cabinet - he keeps taking the LIMELIGHT as he richly deserves.We now need to work relating to the hazardous and serious issues of DIRT,DANGER,CLEANLI NESS,& HEALTH: at VALLETTA we appear to have a most incompetent LOCAL COUNCIL on these matters.Pigeons [ the FLYING RODENTS as they are called] do not only cause dirt but are a serious hazard to HEALTH [ Asthma & other Chest Infections in particular ]; KAROZZINI are a serious traffic hazard,they dirty everywhere with the horses` dung,apart from the foul smell and the rude and arrogant attitude of the KUCCIERA ( the Cab`s Manouverer ) - besides they stay in restricted spaces like Independence Square very often with little space for outgoing traffic and this right next to the Ministry for Justice & Home Affairs!

VALLETTA could be turned into a GEM CITY by DAY & NIGHT. The Local Council are not up to the JOB - this is evident.Finally many places are in an almost collapsable State - do we AS USUAL await a TRAGEDY before we do ANYTHING.AUSTIN appears to gets things moving one way or the other.Well Done!

can the minister please tell us the resedents of SUR SANTA LIENA BORMLA when the work on our street is going to begin. we have been waiting for over 20 years and we have been promised from the former minister and now by dr austin gatt that work was to start at the end of july,another promise broken

another eccellent decision by the only minister who is showing some pondus above the status quo of the rest of the cabinet. Maybe who ever is in charge of the mater dei can be as effective and make it possible to get an appointment at the out patients without having to go there personally and loose a days work or posting it without an answer for months. Maybe the no go for cars that was in force for Mdina during a previous administration can be reintroduced. Never hurt anybody to walk a hundred meters....And while on the subject of effectiveness..when is the apparatus at the gynae division going to be repaired???some of us have been waiting for an appointement for months and when we phone and inquire(if anybody cares to answer the phone) we are told that it is broken down both the software and the hardware and we shall be notified in due course...effectiveness??? a brand new expensive apparatus out for months? while the qeue builds up...Put Dr Gatt on the job too please.

Excellent work. Hon. Dr. Austin Gatt may not be as charismatic as he ought to be, may not be many's favourite personality, but he certainly does get things done - and for that he deserves to be applauded.
Who knows, maybe by the time winter arrives shop owners will start realizing that it is to their benefit that they stay open till late and then maybe we can see a true revival of the City within our lifetime.

Excellent idea for non-valletta residents...but what about the residents who live here? Who will carry their heavy daily/weekly shopping bags to their apartment? Why can't they simply go and shop at any time of the day like all other families outside Valletta? Why do Valletta residents have to go through such hassles simply to make it look nicer to outsiders? I believe that if the people in charge will remove all the unnecessary traffic signs which are ruining the historical look of our city, that would be quite a big deal .... and am sure OUR City will look much better!
People live here..........So PLEASE keep this important fact in mind.

How about doing something similar in Victoria, Gozo?

Good news. But can Minister Gatt announce when the pedestrianisation of the area from St. Theresa Church to the Dockyard gate in Gavino Gulia Sq. in Cospicua will take effect? This is important so that the commercial sector can plan ahead for the new situation being created by this arterial road being traffic free. It has been widely rumoured, and confidentially i got a confirmation, that this area is planned for extensive development and traffic free zone. We old aged people and the commercial sector need to adjust ourselves to the new situation and so the responsible Minister ought to let it be known as early as possible when the project will take off.