Drive-through resort in Qawra, Buġibba

It has now been some 15 years since Qawra and Buġibba have seen some upgrades in their infrastructure and the recent investment in the long-awaited promenade upgrade programme and the new aquarium project in Qawra are certainly welcome and will refresh the facilities of this once thriving holiday resort.

However, the central car park for the St Paul’s Bay, Buġibba and Qawra areas, which has now been talked about and even promised by some politicians for the past 20 odd years, has never materialised and the parking situation in the area is going to be made much more difficult with the proposed reduction of a substantial number of car parking spaces in order to accommodate the Aquarium project. The ideal place for a central car park in the area, which would have had excellent access for cars and been within walking distance of the main shopping areas, would have been in the site underneath the football ground, but this opportunity seems to have been lost. Or has it?

The aquarium project is going to see a reduction of some 210 spaces from the present overall 340 spaces in the area, 250 of which are sited in “temporary” car park spaces behind Fra Ben and 90 in the main car park. This temporary car park area will be used to house the aquarium project, which will also include a 40-space underground car park which along with the main 90-space car park, will form part of the project.

All these spaces will be operated by the consortium that will operate the aquarium as part of the project, hence the current chronic car parking shortage is going to be made much worse with the loss of some 210 spaces in the “temporary car park” area in addition to the substantial number of parking spaces that have already been lost with the promenade upgrading programme.

For the past number of years the residents of Qawra have had to put up with having to park their cars up to one kilometre away from their residences at peak season. One is made to feel like a second-class citizen when compared with the residents of Sliema and Ħamrun where the residents’ reserved parking scheme is in operation.

One dares to ask why? Do Qawra residents pay less road tax or fewer taxes than our counterparts? So why are we being treated differently? Is it because our interests are not being properly represented by our Members of Parliament as those of Sliema and Ħamrun?

The parking problem is exacerbated through the summer period with the number of unlicensed boat trailers that are permitted to park “illegally” in the area near the Buġibba slipway, with some trailers taking the space of three or four spaces.

When some time ago I brought the issue up with the mayor and also gave some suggestions that would have alleviated the problem she actually agreed with me, only to be overruled by others outside the council as has become the norm in the locality. This problem has been very well managed in Mellieħa where boat owners are not allowed to leave their trailers in the area when they launch their boats.

The truth of the matter is that after losing thousands of hotel beds in the area and for various reasons, the business fraternity has now to put up with the first “drive through” resort, unless some urgent action is taken to address the chronic parking problem that will be created when the aquarium project commences!

What is the point of opening attractions to bring people to the resort if there is nowhere for them to park when they arrive? In other countries the parking and roads are put in place before any project is built but regrettably in Malta, we do not seem to have such foresight!