Tickets issued during the Santa Marija weekend did not solve illegal parking but put people off visiting the sister isle, the Gozo Tourism Association has insisted.
“Giving parked cars ticket didn’t solve the problems on the day.
“Solving the problem would have been not letting them park there in the first place – prevention is what was needed. Instead the lack of parking faced by motorists was made worse with fines,” GTA president Joseph Muscat said.
He was contacted for his reaction to a report by this newspaper that only 170 fines were issued on Gozo during the public holiday weekend earlier this month – a small number considering that some 20,000 extra cars were on the island at the time.
The GTA, together with the Gozo Business Chamber, criticised how fines were issued, particularly in the capital, Victoria, saying wardens were putting a damper on Gozo’s “busiest day for tourism”.
We received a lot of complaints from people who literally said ‘Gozo never again’. That would impact the island very negatively”
“We received a lot of complaints from people who literally said ‘Gozo never again’. That would impact the island very negatively,” Mr Muscat said.
He said that the limited parking in Victoria was exacerbated during the public holiday, as a large football pitch normally used to ease the problem was instead turned into an exhibition space.
Figures supplied by the Local Enforcement System Agency, responsible for overseeing the warden service, show that Gozo’s population tripled on August 13 and 14, with some 70,000 Maltese spending the weekend there.
The agency insisted that fines had been given for double and triple parking, which obstructed traffic and could not be ignored.
During the Santa Marija weekend, a number of haphazard manoeuvres were also flagged, along with motorists who took to driving with no number plates, several breaches of one-way signs as well as motorists not wearing a seatbelt.
Mr Muscat maintained, however, that in the prevailing circumstances, local wardens were expected to adopt a preventive approach, rather than resorting to the issuing of fines.
“The lack of parking spaces in Victoria should not be borne by the visiting guests to Gozo,” he said. “The truth is that until the situation is addressed and more parking solutions are created, we cannot penalise drivers. Otherwise we will simply push them away from visiting Gozo.”