One rightly gets fined for parking on a pavement, but what if one occupies the pavement for eight weeks?
It was a question posed by a reader who sent the picture above, taken in Zebbug, where the locality's second feast is due to be celebrated at the end of the month.
He said this was the second time this has happened this summer, the first having been for the feast of St Philip.
Some poles had blocked pavements for up to eight weeks, he said, especially the pole in front of the social security office Triq Sciortino c/w Vjal il-Helsien.
"Poles blocked the footpath for the first feast for several weeks, and now again for the second feast, with the colour of the pole changed from brown to blue," he said.
"Are these legal?
"What is the KNPD doing on this matter? Persons with wheelchairs/ buggies with small kids are obliged to go in the road instead of using the footpath. In case of injuries, can legal proceedings be taken against feast organisers, band club presidents, volunteers, the mayor , parish priest etc…? Are they covered by any insurance?
"If one parks a vehicle on a footpath one would get a ticket, but is a pole being an obstacle for weeks acceptable?"
NATIONAL COMMISSION WANTS TO STOP PAVEMENT OBSTRUCTIONS
When questioned, the National Commission for Persons with Disability said it spent the past year on a “wild goose chase” in a bid to stop street decorations from obstructing wheelchair users.
Chairman Oliver Scicluna said he had long been in touch with different authorities to try and find a way to stop the decorations used in feasts from obstructing pavements and wheelchair ramps. Replies, however, were few and far between, as was cooperation, he was quick to add.
“The commission has been sending legal letters to local councils for months trying to find ways to have the decorations without impacting disabled people’s lives but we aren’t getting much in the way of cooperation,” he said.
Mr Scicluna said that after having sent the letters, including ones issued by the commission’s legal team, it was only recently that he had received a reply from one local council directing him to the police.
“Is this the same story of no one taking responsibility and dumping it onto another authority,” he asked.
He added that the national transport committee should also look into the matter.
Back in 2014, this newspaper had reported on a wheelchair user’s difficulties getting around during the Rabat feast of St Joseph because not only were street decorations blocking pavements but a food kiosk was also parked in a place reserved for blue badge holders.
“This is absurd, of all the places to leave a kiosk, they chose the disabled parking bay. I’m basically confined to my home for a week,” the irate resident had said.
Back then, the local council had also directed this newspaper to the police, who said they were responsible for road closures during processions.
Feast aficionados contacted yesterday gave varying replies, the more candid said that street decorations were normally erected at night “in the same ways and the same places they always have been”. Mr Scicluna meanwhile, reiterated that this was not an attack on the festa-culture, as some festa lovers had implied on social media when he raised the issue.
“Feasts are not the problem, the lack of planning and a comprehensive strategy for these events is the problem. Our objective is to collaborate and find a way to limit the negative impact obstructions caused by these street decorations can have on people’s lives. Mobility should not stop and start at the whim of those organising a feast,” he said.
Mr Scicluna said festa street decorations were and added to the already big problem to haphazard placement of electricity poles and other street furniture which was often installed by the authorities without adequate planning.
Have you noticed anything out of the norm on our streets... even by Maltese standards? Send us an email to mynews@timesofmalta.com