Mellieħa residents take traffic complaint to court

The Mellieħa local council has been accused of making a chronic traffic problem worse while ignoring a simple solution proposed by some 180 of the town’s residents.

Fed up with the congestion in and around the town centre, the residents took their claims to court yesterday, filing a judicial protest against the Prime Minister, the local council, Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said and Transport Malta.

In the protest, the residents said a proposal by the local council to divert traffic from the main road of George Borg Olivier Street to the two roads where they all live would create more problems than it would solve.

The roads in question, Sanctuary and Ingraw Garden, are at the heart of the old village centre and were never meant to carry such heavy traffic, they said. Even simple manoeuvres would be complicated for trucks and buses.

Moreover, if the proposal is be approved it would mean that the parking spaces in the area would be taken away to the detriment of the residents.

Furthermore the traffic would have to pass by a school and an old people’s home, the residents said. They insisted that the council could solve the problem by simply disallowing parking on George Borg Olivier Street and relocating it elsewhere.

The council, however, was ignoring this proposal and had actually increased the number of parking spots in that street, aggravating traffic problems.

The residents said they were holding the council responsible for any possible damages.