Midi p.l.c. has expressed its disagreement with proposals to re-route traffic away from central Sliema towards Tigné Point.

In a statement, Midi said recent comments concerning a possible rerouting of the Sliema traffic scheme implied that Midi was somehow in favour of rerouting traffic away from Bisazza Street and Tower Road in order to benefit their new retail mall, The Point.

“We are certainly not lobbying for a scheme that proposes to divert traffic from either Bisazza Street or Tower Road, let alone both of them, towards Tigné as this will simply push traffic that would have otherwise circulated in the general Ferries/Tower Road/Bisazza Street area towards the already busy Tigné peninsula,” Ben Muscat, chief executive officer said.

“We have always maintained that it would be preferable to have both Bisazza Street and Tower Road, as well as the Tigné tunnel open and available so that motorists could select their preferred route as they used to do in the past. We believe that this solution will result in less traffic and congestion for all.”

Referring to the Tigné tunnel, Mr Muscat said Midi constructed the Tigné tunnel to the original size and specifications as one of the infrastructural works that it was obliged to carry out under its lease agreement contractual obligations with the government.

Midi formally transferred the tunnel to the government in April 2008 and was not involved in discussions with the government or its representatives concerning its traffic strategy for Sliema other than on how this dovetailed with other works in Tigné Point.

He said it would have been desirable if The Point could be accessed from the Qui-si-Sana side in addition to the Tigné Seafront side (by the Fortina Hotel).