The Sliema Residents' Association said today that the reserved residents' parking scheme introduced by Sliema Council would not solve the real traffic and parking problems within the town.

"This plan offers a rather lopsided fix which falsely appears to favour Sliema residents - it appears to be another half baked, ill considered short term solution.

The association said Sliema had arrived at a point where the proportion of residents who owned cars, and the traffic generated by recent residential / commercial developments, had reached absurd proportions. As a result residents returning home from work in the evening found no place where to park their cars. By day, people visiting Sliema for commercial, work related, leisure and other purposes also struggled to find parking.

"The building development situation in Sliema is slowly killing the town. Prospective visitors to the town opt not to visit due to the impossible feat of finding a parking space. This is having negative economic and social implications - too often, it is the case that relatives are not visited due to the parking problem. Such social impact is mostly felt by the elderly who do not have the luxury of driving themselves. Even if they are able to drive, it may prove impossible to find a parking space within a short walk. This situation is making Sliema unattractive to all," the association said.

The association said that while some were calling for more car parks, this would cause more congestion and pollution in Sliema.

"Sliema is already unable to handle the current volume of vehicles and this before considering the significant increase in traffic which will be generated by the MIDI and Fort Cambridge mega projects which are not yet used at anywhere near full capacity."

The association said that contrary to logic and in defiance of sensible traffic management solutions, no realistic plan had been announced by MEPA , ADT or by the Sliema Local Council to alleviate the precarious traffic burden which Sliema residents face every day.

It therefore urged the new Sliema Local Council to commission and implement a holistic Sliema Traffic Management Plan / Report without further delay.

"Sliema Residents Association believes in the need for a fresh look at the Sliema traffic system which will eventually reduce traffic influx, and at the same time maintain the present flow of visitors to Sliema by upgrading and introducing alternative modes of transport. Ideally this should be part of a holistic traffic management system for all of Malta as this is sorely lacking at present. Further more the SRA would like to see an end to the ever increasing unsustainable building development which is contributing to the traffic congestion problem by increasing the resident population beyond capacity," the association said.

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