New Valletta Waterfront shopping mall

I read with great concern in The Times that the Valletta Waterfront Consortium has filed an application with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for the creation of yet another shopping mall with a footprint of 1,000 square metres on each of the three floors and with an underground car park.

My concern is not limited to the fact that my poor fellow Maltese retailers are eating each other in their endeavours to make both ends meet and survive in the process. My concern is even greater when I consider the pitiful situation that all businesses in Valletta find themselves in today due to the lack of parking spaces for their customers and also due to the many projects now in full swing to improve and ameliorate our capital city.

To make matters worse, public land, which was obtained at minimum cost, intended to be used to attract cruise liners to our shores, is now being utilised by speculators at the expense of business outlets that depend solely on their retail operation for their livelihood and the livelihood of their employees and their families that depend on them.

Greater benefit to all would have resulted if this very area were used to create a multi-storey car park to complement the lifts that should be operational in the new year.