[attach id=253363 size="medium"]Transport Minister Joe Mizzi.[/attach]

Sliema council was overruled on a residents’ parking scheme because there was no trial period, according to Transport Minister Joe Mizzi.

Mr Mizzi said the approval given to the council by Transport Malta several years ago, which was sanctioned by a 2009 legal notice, included a mandatory six-month trial period.

He shunned the argument that Cabinet’s decision to suspend the scheme infringed the council’s autonomy.

“We stopped the scheme because the trial never happened and four years later the council just decided to go ahead with its implementation,” Mr Mizzi said, adding that time had passed, circumstances had changed and new projects had happened in Sliema since 2009.

“Even the Sliema shop owner representatives, who supported the scheme in the past, are against the scheme,” he said, calling for balance.

Mr Mizzi noted that the Malta Union of Teachers was not consulted on the matter.

Last week, the union ordered teachers in all Sliema’s schools to report for work an hour late in protest at the parking scheme.

The action was then followed by Cabinet’s decision to suspend the scheme.

Residents’ parking schemes in other localities would not be suspended, Mr Mizzi added, but the Government was undertaking a comprehensive review of traffic management and parking in various areas.

The scheme proposed by the Sliema council would have reserved half of the town’s on-street parking slots for residents. Non-residents would only be able to park in the reserved slots for two hours, unable to return to the same spot before an hour lapsed. The council started rolling out the scheme last week.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com

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