It was too early to say whether today’s unannounced move of the Valletta monti to Ordnance Street would be good for sales or not, hawkers told the Times of Malta.

Pedestrians walking into Valletta this morning were taken by surprise by the sight of some 34 stalls set up in the side road off the new Parliament building.

Sellers, however, were coy when asked how they felt about leaving Merchants Street.

“It’s too early to say if this will be good for us or not. It all depends on how the public reacts to us being here. If the passing trade if good then business should be ok, but we’ll see,” veteran hawker Vince Grima said.

A Valletta hawker since 1970, Mr Grima has seen the market move to new locations across the capital four times.

“There are less and less sellers and we’ll just have to see what comes of being here,” he said.

Most hawkers had mixed feelings about the move, saying it was tough to say what would come of it.

“How should I know what it is going to be like here? No one knows if it will be good or not,” another seller, who asked not to be named said.

The hawker at the front of the market, whose stall creeped onto Republic Street, was the only hawker to say the move was “definitely an improvement”.

“It’s much better here, you can see all the people passing by already,” the hawker, who also asked not to be named said.

The controversial monti move was originally earmarked for early last year, but was repeatedly held back by issues over logistics, as well as public concern over the placement and also design of new stalls.

Following a public expression of interest, a design panel chaired by the Chamber of Architects selected a new design earlier this year, but hawkers took issue with the “functionality” of the proposal, prompting a return to the drawing board.

The hawkers who set up today did so using their old stalls used on Merchants Street.

“Who knows what’s happening with the stalls, all I know is that we were told to keep using ours for now,” a seller said as he priced women’s underwear.