Midi plc disagrees with proposals that suggest all traffic be rerouted away from central Sliema towards Tigné Point.

The company has noted recent comments concerning a possible rerouting of the Sliema traffic scheme, which 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.

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 in the past. We believe that this solution will result in less traffic and congestion for all.

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, in fact, formally transferred the tunnel to the government in April 2008 and is not involved in discussions with the government or its representatives concerning its traffic strategy for Sliema other than on how this dovetails with other works in Tigné Point. Of course, 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).