Parliamentary Secretary for Local Councils José Herrera has asked the Sliema local council to revisit the scheme which reserves half of the locality’s parking bays for residents.

Deputy mayor Kris Busietta yesterday said Dr Herrera had told the council in a meeting that the Government was not against the introduction of residents’ parking schemes but called on councils planning their introduction to await direction from the Government.

He said Dr Herrera had asked the council to revisit its plans.

Residents in Sliema have as much right to find parking places as those in other localities

In the meantime, the parking scheme, under which non-residents could only park in resident bays for two hours or face a fine, will remain on hold.

Dr Busietta said he felt the Government’s decision was “a little bit dangerous” as it “undermined the autonomy of councils’ work” especially since the Legal Notice which brought this scheme into force was still in place.

“I think Transport Malta went ultra vires (beyond its remit) by stopping the council’s scheme,” he said.

Asked whether he felt Sliema was being discriminated against, Dr Busietta replied: “In inverted commas, yes,” because other residents’ parking schemes were still in place.

The council is now planning to meet next week to discuss Dr Herrera’s request and come up with a position.

Transport Malta suspended the week-old scheme on Tuesday on the strength of a Cabinet decision. It was taken a few hours after teachers, on a directive from their union, staged a one-hour strike to protest against the scheme.

The scheme was introduced “unilaterally and without an adequate trial period” and had caused problems in the locality, the Government said.

Dr Busietta yesterday asked where the teachers’ union was when similar schemes were introduced in localities like Pietà, Floriana and Valletta, which all have schools.

“Residents in Sliema have as much right to find parking places as residents in other localities,” he said, adding that the scheme was welcomed by residents who had been asking for it for a long time.

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