Ta’ Xbiex parking problems - April 3, 2011

I am writing this because a parking ticket I was given on March 18, at Triq Il-Watar, Ta’ Xbiex, was the last straw. Parking restrictions are an injustice suffered by all who work in Ta’ Xbiex.

I have several questions to put to the local council regarding the system of parking time limits in the area that became legal in July 2009. And I am sure all my colleagues and other people working in Ta’ Xbiex share my thoughts.

Why do Ta’ Xbiex residents need parking space so desperately during the day? Aren’t most of these people working during office hours?

The time on the street signs couldn’t be more obvious; they are targeting us working people. This zone is controlled only during office hours.

I can prove this by pointing out all the empty parking spaces during the day where the time limit is imposed. The residents couldn’t care less as they can occupy parking bays where there is no limit.

Of course, their local council protects them. They do not incur fines because with a permit displayed on their windscreen they still park in the uncontrolled parking bays.

If the local council is so just, and if I was fined for parking in a space as big as a car marked for one motorcycle in such an area, why are residents not fined for parking in the bays meant for non-residents?

To add insult to injury, one resident blocked me in while I was parked regularly in a parking bay. The resident shouted from the balcony and was very offensive when I used the horn to make myself heard. The resident wanted to park exactly below her balcony.

The local council is also checking the contents of the garbage bags we take outside. Is this legal? Is the local council allowed to fine people for throwing away papers, for example, in a black bag? If so, why doesn’t it have the decency to provide us with a proper structure for that?

If the council is so concerned about waste separation why doesn’t it give us a proper place in Ta’ Xbiex where to do that? What does one expect from several blocks of offices with hundreds of people? Heaps of paper, of course.

It is high time Ta’ Xbiex council starts respecting us working people; after all, we are Maltese citizens too, and we go to Ta’ Xbiex to work, not to party. The council should give us parking rights at least during office hours and reduce the controlled parking to accommodate only clients of insurance companies and other businesses in the area.

We are also generating business for several shops in the area belonging to residents.