St George's Bay ice-cream vendor 'not acting against the law'
The Tanti ice-cream vendor operating at St George’s Bay was not prima facie acting against the law, a judge has ruled.
Last week, the Lands Department was stopped from evicting the vendor from his regular slot after the court provisionally upheld the owner’s request for an injunction.
The vendor had claimed that the department’s actions were illegal because the eviction notice only gave it the legal power to evict people who did not have a title to the land or who were illegally encroaching.
He had pointed out that he was not occupying land but simply parked his ice-cream van in the early morning, thus avoiding traffic, and drove home late at night once the traffic calmed down.
Also, he was very careful when he set up and dismantled his van because the traffic around the bay was very busy. However, he insisted that the slot where he regularly parked was in a legal parking area.
The mobile kiosk was an important source of his earnings especially during the summer months, owner Carmelo Tanti said.
Mr Tanti argued that he was not breaking any law especially because he had the necessary street hawker’s licence. He also said he had a permit from the St Julians local council to have a generator, which was not being used.
31 Comments
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Marija Balzan
Aug 21st 2010, 18:47
A lot of illegal activity seems to abound in this bay!!! Naked sudents and ice-cream vendors...what next I wonder???
m.camilleri
Aug 21st 2010, 08:34
haluh ja jaqla lira dejjem imqabda ma zaghar ghara kikku kien xi lukanda kikku hadd ma jati kass ghax bsahtu.dejjem listes dan il pajjiez sahha maz zighir u il kbir jibqa ghadej fuq kullhadd,Viva Malta u il maltin
MBorg
Aug 19th 2010, 21:02
Why are you all against the Dingli Street vegetable vendors ? They give a service to the people of that area. Are the people complaining from Sliema ? Or is it the usual busybodies who make it their hobby to find fault with everything that has to do with Sliema ?
As for the parking places that they occupy, better them than hotel or office workers who will also park all day..
Alexander Morana
Aug 19th 2010, 20:28
Why are you people going after some one who is only trying to earn a living. They pay permits, they pay taxes plus they are making and creating business. They buy supplies so they are creating jobs indirectly. Why not go after some who sits idle and smooches over welfare handouts?
These people are only expressing their true Maltese entrepreneurship in whatever ways and means they know best. Give it a break. Hawkers are all over the world, in any city and in any country and their rules aren’t different from those of Malta.
M Sciberras
Aug 19th 2010, 20:59
My dear friend....Hawkers are only found in third world countries.....and do not come up with any google search results to prove me wrong...it is still a fact so please spare us.
r pace bonello
Aug 19th 2010, 19:20
I have written to the SLC regarding the vegetable vendors who seem to get away with murder, as I am sure others have too.They clutter the already crowded Dingli Circus, keep their boxes on the ground, block pavements and occupy 2 or more parking spaces year round. Together with these two vendors we have others selling fish creating a terrible stink and causing traffic problems and confusion on a daily basis. The police do not seem to care either.
Jeremy J Camilleri
Aug 19th 2010, 18:25
Yesterday I walked across the Sliema Sea front, and noticed at least 7 stalls, manned by people of AFrican descent selling their wares.
I have no problem with this, however does one need a license or not?
D Vella
Aug 19th 2010, 21:51
These Africans need to make a living,the little space they take up bothers no one.Would you rather they begged on the streets?.They are quiet and polite,besides which they add a bit of character with their wares to what otherwise would be a rather drab walk. It is ls slightly different to someone who sets up a van in a parking space in a busy part of town and staying there all day and half the night,where parking is already at a premium.Furthermore the family which own that van/food stall in St George's can well afford to open a coffee bar or two and compete on an equal playing field with the rest of the shop owners in that area who pay small fortunes on a Monday morning before they have even earned a penny. Let them come round and sell their ice creams as much as they want but move on after a maximum of half an hour of so. That after all is the spirit in which these movable food stalls were granted their license to begin with.
j.spiteri
Aug 19th 2010, 17:34
I think Mr. Tanti is hurting some outlets that sell a bottle of mineral water for €4.
Phil Press
Aug 19th 2010, 16:45
Why not implement Parking Meters, 2 hrs Max.
N.Calleja
Aug 19th 2010, 15:50
Dingli Circus has been turned into a vegetable vendor's jungle. Within a space a few metres one finds three big trucks parked from dawn u dask, obstructing the view of every driver passing by. A car has to protrude to the middle of the circus to be able to see whether other cars are coming. One of the trucks has a reserve truck adjacent to the vegetable shop at the corner(with a lovely sun umbrella) nearby. On the other side another big truck selling more vegetables is also obstructing. But despite all the wardens that supervise the area, they are still there. Where are the policemen and the other authorities to check whether this vendor has the necessary permits?
John Vassallo
Aug 19th 2010, 22:00
N.Calleja the same is happening with a greengrocer who has just opened a couple of weeks ago in the Zabbar - Marsascala bypass. He parks his truck in front of his shop and also puts up a sandwich board next to his truck in the bypass further obstructing traffic in the bypass. Vehicles exiting Triq is-Silla have to go out to the middle of the bypass before they can see any oncoming traffic and everyone is expecting a big accident. When are the authorities going to take the necessary action against this greengrocer for the blatant and dangerous abuse? Are they waiting for a serious accident to happen and people to get hurt?
Valerio Montebello
Aug 19th 2010, 13:59
Prosit tas sew! the shops in the area are paying higher rates for a licence, plus very high rents, maintenance bills, plus other bills thus rendering more business, employing more then one person to run the business, in many cases around 20/40 personnel and someone with a hawkers licence can park anywhere and do business, actually in front of your own business. Hawkers licences should be limited and not allowed in prime areas where there are similar businesses. This is truly an unfair practice!!... the Judge only did his job and ruled in favor of the law, so change the law and make it fair... And by the way Its not a truck but a kiosk on a concrete platform, notice the photo.
A.Busuttil
Aug 19th 2010, 13:58
Hawkers selling same items of shops have to be 50meters far from the nearest outlet. Is he?
John Micallef
Aug 19th 2010, 14:37
Din min fejn gibta??
Charles Sciberras
Aug 19th 2010, 13:55
He insisted that the slot where he regularly parked was in a legal parking place.... Does the word regularly mean that he has a title to this particular slot or that it is reserved for him? What happens if somebody goes earlier than him and park a vehicle in this place? Will he accept that it is public land or will all hell break loose?
D Borg
Aug 19th 2010, 13:51
What about the Sliema Ghar id Dud ones. I remember them on wheel so they could be transported and now when they changed the paving they paved around them. I assume they also have electical connections and probably also some sort of drainage connection. This is another magic kiosk but in a PN version.(like zeppi kiosk)
Not only they take out the chairs and empty boxes but also the amusement machines and other clutter.
Tista mhux tonqfu l-flus Ix-xatt ta' tigne ghax hemm dejjem bl-imbarazz jibqa.
A. Zahra
Aug 19th 2010, 14:31
It seems that you do not know the full story of the Magic Kiosk.
Steve Sant
Aug 19th 2010, 14:36
Seems like you have not been down there for a while. Not only are they a permanent fixture, they are now a fully licensed restaurant, with chairs tables and fixtures. Lucky for some I suppose, but not the law abiding ones.
D Borg
Aug 19th 2010, 21:31
@ A Zahra. The story was basically a tit for tat. And just to clarify the story I do live in Sliema and I am no PL fan.
What bothers me is that some people make public spaces their own. Some examples are the vegtable guy in Sliema circus. they leave two junks parked nearby to occupy the two corner parkings. Last week I saw him sweeping after he finished. Pity he swept everything under the car. Same with the guy oppositre Nazzareno church.
However the tour de force is Maxims in Gzira. They had or have heavy metal tables and stools and they drilled holes in the middle of the pavement to stick them during business hours. What I mean by heavy metal tables is that the are made our of hollow section metal!! Besides they take out chairs which the klikka tas soltu use occupying the un/loading area when it is normal parking hours. If you try to park you risk pushing someone off the chair. Besides their look says it all.
John Micallef
Aug 19th 2010, 13:36
Mela gabbana tal gelat gew inehhuha, u eyesore u gerha fil- bajja ta spinola. Li parti minna nbniet fuq art tal-gvern, qed tigi abitata ilegalment, (aparti li parti minna abandunata u qed tintuza ghal kull abuz) ghandhom id-dawl u ilma min jaf kif (aparti dranagg). Biex ma nsemmux li ilha fi stat ta Kostruzjoni abandunata ghal aktar min 7 snin!!
Ja Mepa darba kellek tinbiddel imma alla jaf meta!
2 ways 2 measures.
Charles Sammut
Aug 19th 2010, 13:32
Mr Tanti is also helping to uphold the high morals of the area by supplying overheated students with ice cream and ice cold drinks, thus enabling them to keep cool without having to resort to skinny dipping. The Courts and Police should also be grateful for the time they save.
Seriously though, what is to prevent 10, 20 or 50 other hawkers from setting up shop there now?
D Vella
Aug 19th 2010, 13:29
So he can take a parking spot all day,whilst we the ordinary hoi polloi can lump it and get a ticket to boot if we so much as park for a minute on a white line. This is an abuse of the system,it should either be free for all or for none.Which is it to be?.The same goes for Church's,banks,Civil Servants,supposedly handicapped,resident's with a garage who still park outside out of spite,coffee bars who put out seating on roads and take up pavements(witness the ferries Sliema) and a hundred and one other little Hitler's who get private parking on the road's we pay for.Anarchy rules and a compliant Government sits back and does nothing.Phooey.
patrick zammit
Aug 19th 2010, 13:29
A hawker is "a person who travels from place to place selling goods".
Basically it means not staying in the same place (ma tikkapparax post).
So, a hawker’s licence does not give right to any person staying in the same place. As far as I know, this is listed in the licence condition (with due respect to the ice cream vender).
Jimmy Magro
Aug 19th 2010, 13:14
Soon the government will amend the regulations to state that no parking place can be used by a mobile vending kiosk or contraption.
John Micallef
Aug 19th 2010, 13:40
In a way mhux idea hazina wara kollox. ghax tiparkja hija haga, u tiparkja biex tbiegh hija haga ohra.
j azzopardi
Aug 19th 2010, 13:55
yes that's right Jim the government is there for all and no colour or religion so he has to look after me and my likes that are missing one parking space at st Georges bay and many others occupied by these guys no wonder shop owners complain about high costs ,they have to pay for every thing that this guys ( hawkers )don't pay
Ramon Casha
Aug 19th 2010, 14:11
I would be in favour of some law that prevents parking spaces - especially where these are very limited - from being converted into de facto permanent shops. One possibility would be to limit the amount of time that someone with a hawker's license from occupying the same place. Thus hawkers can travel from place to place, including stopping in parking slots, but would have to move on after, say, 2 hours.
Deo Catania
Aug 19th 2010, 15:58
@ J Azzopardi. I can park a car in St.Georges bay for a whole year even more without even removing it once given it has a valid road license and the parking area is not a timed zone. According to this article the van and its owner have all the necessary permits so stop crying in vain.
CZARB
Aug 19th 2010, 13:05
So basically every hawker in Malta can park in prime areas turning holiday hotspots into some sort of Monti. If that's the case then I wonder why shop owners spend so much money in rent when they can build mobile shops and go right in the middle of a holiday hotspot.
I have nothing against this guy and I don't work in the retail industry but this sentence is a bit shortsighted and is prone to create alot of inconvenience in the near future.
M Sciberras
Aug 19th 2010, 14:21
It has been the case for a long time here in Sliema. Check out for yourself the hawkers parked in Dingli Circus every day of the year. I rest my case.