Carnival organisers have given the government until Friday to give them replies on long-pending issues or they will not be building the traditional floats for next carnival.

Once the week ultimatum was up the L-Għaqda Parteċipanti Karnival would not be interested in negotiating and this might spell the end of the Maltese traditional carnival, association president Jason Busuttil said.

He was speaking during a press conference this morning – just before Notte Bianca festivities. He said the situation had become unbearable and the government department responsible for culture was "inefficient".

Enthusiasts still had no clue as to whether carnival will be held in Valletta due to ongoing regeneration works and the government had not issued applications for the construction of the floats.

These applications were usually issued towards the beginning of summer which meant that precious time had been lost.

Enthusiasts also faced problems with the spaces allocated to them to build the floats. Fort St Elmo, where the majority of the 33 enthusiasts built their float, was in a dangerously dilapidated state.

One of the stores in Luqa had no water and electricity and there were no indications whether the ongoing road works at Pinto Wharf would be completed by February allowing floats build there to be brought out of storage.

He said the department responsible for culture was failing to give carnival the attention it deserved and only seemed to be concerned with organising Notte Bianca and the Ghana Fest.

There was no one in the department dedicated to carnival. In light of these various problems, Mr Busuttil said, the association was giving government until Friday to provide answers to the issues or there will be no floats next year.