Sliema car park attendants are outraged at the new street signs informing motorists that payment is not mandatory in public parking areas.

“The government wants to starve us. They’re being way too hard on us, just like they were with hunters. I don’t understand why. I don’t know what we’ve done to be treated like this,” one Sliema car park attendant told Times of Malta, as a motorist handed him a €2 coin and her car keys.

He is one of six attendants to work at the popular car park at the Ferries.

The attendants hit the headlines this week after media reports they had ripped out one of the new street signs that was erected in every public car park.

What money I receive I am given; you cannot force people to pay you

The Sliema attendants, however, strongly denied any involvement in the sign’s disappearance. According to the media reports, it had been thrown into the sea.

“The authorities put that sign up a few hours before the heavy storm last week and it got blown away,” another attendant said as he sifted through a wad of €5 notes to hand out change to another motorist, whom he described as “a client”.

Despite their denials, the parking attendants in Sliema have all been issued a formal warning by the transport authorities which informs them that if they are caught tampering with the public signs, they will have their licences withdrawn.

Malta’s 58 licensed car park attendants are technically self-employed.

They have complained that they must pay full national insurance contributions since they are self-employed and do not receive a government wage.

Their ‘earnings’, such as they are, stem solely from the so-called gratuities given by motorists who opt to use the lot the attendants are assigned, they also note.

This, the Sliema parkers insisted, meant they depended on people’s “generosity” to feed their families. “I don’t have leave or a bonus or any of the benefits other workers do. I depend on this money,” one of them said.

Motorists, on the other hand, have, over the years, complained of parkers demanding payment for the use of public spaces, often giving in to their demands for fear of some ill fate befalling their unsupervised car.

“No, that’s rubbish! What money I receive I am given; you cannot force people to pay you,” a Ferries parker said. Ironically, his comment was followed by a raised eyebrow after one driver handed him 50c, less than half the ‘donation’ he was hoping for.

Back in 2012, Times of Malta reported that parking attendants could be raking in as much as €1,000 a week, especially during the busy summer months and the Christmas season.

Yesterday, the parking area at the Ferries was brimming with about 100 cars, all squeezed into 85 spaces.

The parking lot is so busy the parkers have developed their own makeshift valet service. Each parker carries a small blue plastic basket to collect motorists’ car keys and then double or even triple park the cars, filling the area well beyond capacity.

A similar parking lot, albeit smaller, in Floriana uses a similar system. There, motorists are treated more like members, many parking in the same spot every day.

The ‘donations’ vary from a few cents to about €2, and most of them are offered by motorists who find the arrangement cheaper than signing up for a membership in a privately run car park.

What are they there for?

A car park attendant is authorised to operate only in the car park or areas assigned to him by Transport Malta and only during the times indicated on his licence.

The licensee is responsible for cleaning the parking site during the time he is operating.

A car park attendant is supposed to use care and diligence to ensure the orderly entry, parking and exit of vehicles in any car park under his charge and to prevent all thefts from, or damage to, such vehicles. He should write down the registration number of any vehicle involved in a collision or other incident at the car park and report the particulars to the police.

He is not, however, personally liable for any damage.

Every person making use of a car park must comply with the lawful signals or instructions of the attendant in connection with the entry, parking and exit of the vehicle.

Attendants used to form part of a union but they left a few years ago.