Cars will soon be returning to the City Gate ditch but no parking will be allowed because it is just a “temporary” measure to improve access to the other side of the capital, the Transport Ministry said.
A spokeswoman pointed out that the “temporary and preliminary” works that started yesterday were meant to give “controlled” access to authorised vehicles in the area of the ditch close to the National Statistics Office.
The clarification was issued after workers were seen laying the foundations of a centre strip along the stretch of road going through the fortifications. This fuelled speculation that the government had completely abandoned plans to embellish the area as a public garden in favour of a car park.
The works will not prejudice further embellishment of the ditch
However, the spokeswoman later told this newspaper the works would not “prejudice” further embellishment of the ditch because its “development” was still under consideration.
“There shall be no parking in the area close to the City Gate bridge and the curb is being placed in accordance to planning authority plans,” she added.
Access to the ditch has been closed since late 2010 when works on the Valletta entrance project started.
In his plan, world-renowned architect Renzo Piano, who was commissioned to come up with the design, earmarked the open space in the ditch between St John Cavalier and St James for a public garden. This embellishment was part of his vision for a regeneration of the capital’s entrance.
However, in July 2013, the Labour administration opted to shelve the garden as part of a cost-cutting exercise. Faced by a public outcry against the decision, the government insisted the project incorporating the new parliament building and the open theatre was running over budget.
At the time, Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi had said the public garden decision would save about €1.9 million and a final decision would be taken at a later stage.
Some months later, while inspecting works at City Gate in a brief visit to Malta, Mr Piano himself questioned the change of plans, remarking that the proposed garden “was very important to the project”.
A few weeks later he submitted fresh plans and fuelled hopes that the government might reconsider its decision.
Soon after, the Infrastructure Ministry had said the new designs would be evaluated in conjunction with another proposal.
According to sources, the latter option was simply to restore the ditch to its previous function prior to the start of works, when it was used as a public car park.
Since then, no further announcements have been made, with the emphasis being on the completion of the new parliament building, which should have been inaugurated last October.