Sliema shopping centre polluted, shabby

The editor's note regarding the On The Dot section of The Times last Monday gave me the urge to share some thoughts.

The central business area in Sliema cannot last in its present incarnation. Trends change, tastes evolve, and shopping patterns develop. A perfect example is the shift from Prince of Wales Street to Tower Road and Bisazza Street in the late 1990s.

Shoppers are nowadays more conscious of style, safety and ease and will take their custom where these are provided. That is why shoppers prefer the safety of Republic and Merchant streets in Valletta: children can roam freely while parents window shop; there are no worries that they might suddenly be run over or that you and your family are inhaling fumes from the bus that spluttered past mere inches away followed by a cloud of obnoxious fumes. In central Valletta, shoppers freely roam a safe shopping area in a car-less environment.

Compare and contrast with Tower Road and Bisazza Street in Sliema: shoppers suffocate in bus and car exhaust; they're deafened by rumbling trucks and the horns of angry car-drivers in the permanent Bisazza Street traffic jam; they're in constant danger of cars in close proximity; they have to negotiate loading/unloading delivery trucks at all hours; in short, shopping in Sliema is a toxic and congested nightmare.

Competition is stiff and custom is not loyal any more. The way forward for Tower Road and Bisazza Street is pedestrianisation; otherwise, the locus of business will inexorably shift. With MIDI soon offering a stylish piazza mixing retail and catering establishments, it is not difficult to envisage a relentless shift from Bisazza Street and Tower Road.

Minister George Pullicino has done a fantastic job with the pavements in the latter, but I believe these efforts should be taken a step further and the whole area pedestrianised for everyone's benefit.

I would also like to point out the horrific adverts all over Sliema that keep changing for the worse our once-elegant town. These adverts are mushrooming all over our streets. Not only do we have to endure posters on every street pole; now we have U-shaped barriers bordering the road taken up by advertising. Not to mention a semi-permanent billboard-truck blocking the Manoel Island view from Bisazza Street.

The adverts along Tower Road have now thankfully been replaced with elegant black bollards and I just cannot wait for the next lot to be removed once works continue along the Joinwell stretch. I hope no one dares install any more such adverts along the newly-laid pavements; rumour has it that some plan to. Why on earth do we need to stick up all these adverts on every square inch of public space making Sliema an unkempt souk?

Sliema is fuming. The Sliema council needs to set out a strategy for central Sliema and work with the Sliema business community to start acting in Sliema's collective interest rather than in the usual jungle-style shabby frenzy.