Valletta’s newly designed white monti stalls, brandished with a red eight-pointed cross, have sparked widespread ire and condemnation. Sarah Carabott and Keith Micallef spoke to key stakeholders who agreed the stalls would blemish the capital’s entrance.
Small Businesses Minister Chris Cardona
The monti stalls that came under fire yesterday would not make it to Valletta when the market moved to Ordnance Street, Dr Cardona assured.
“We need to find a balance between the practicality and aesthetics of the stalls. From the practical perspective, there is the structure of the stall, which can be retained, but aesthetically they will be changed,” he said.
Dr Cardona was speaking following public criticism of the stalls, which will be erected between Renzo Piano’s new parliament building and Pjazza Teatru Rjal.
The new stalls, manufactured to the same specifications, will replace all the tatty ones being used by hawkers and will have to be assembled and dismantled daily.
The Valletta hawkers market would also be regulated through a set of standards that would ensure symmetry in the arrangement of the stalls, ease of access and security for customers, a ministry spokesman said.
Dr Cardona said he would be proposing that the government would call on artistic designers and architects to see if the new stalls could be upgraded aesthetically. If not, they would be relocated to another market outside Valletta.
Din l-Art Ħelwa president Simone Mizzi
Moving the monti stalls to City Gate will reinforce the “Third World bazaar atmosphere” at the capital’s entrance, according to Ms Mizzi.
“The location and design of the new stalls will, if executed as reported in the media, be a most inappropriate choice and will not add to the dignity of our world heritage city.
“The Third World bazaar atmosphere that the entrance to our capital city still retains will sadly just be perpetuated,” she said.
Ms Mizzi said the stalls, displaying a choice of paraphernalia and cheap merchandise, would in themselves be an insult to the city’s self-respect.
While finding a place for the stalls in Valletta was difficult, the decision to place them just below the new Renzo Piano complex alongside Pjazza Teatru Rjal detracted from the integrity of the new parliament building and the restored theatre ruins. “As for the clutter introduced by the busy eight-pointed cross design, any contemporary street furniture in Valletta would preferably be minimalistic, with an overall master plan approved for the city that allows the beauty of its unique architecture to dominate. On no account must a market of a permanent nature be encouraged in the location proposed.”
V-18 Foundation chairman Jason Micallef
Mr Micallef did not mince his words, expressing disapproval of the government’s plans to relocate the monti to the heart of Valletta’s new entrance.
“The foundation does not see the move as befitting the architectural fabric of the city’s entrance nor will it benefit Maltese culture in the run-up to 2018,” Mr Micallef said when contacted for a reaction.
Mr Micallef, the V-18 chief and former Labour Party general secretary, also pronounced himself against the design and the concept of the new monti stalls.
“Particular attention should be paid to respect the area between the new parliament building and Pjazza Teatru Rjal,” he said, as a number of stalls would be placed in between the two iconic buildings. He lamented that the foundation had not been consulted at any stage and urged for common sense to prevail. He called for a holistic approach to find a solution in the capital city’s best interests.
Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli
Shooting down the monti relocation plan from Merchants Street to Ordnance Street, Prof. Dingli said this would spoil the city’s new entrance, take up precious parking spaces and be a constant source of inconvenience for residents.
He vented his frustration that the council had been kept in the dark and only learnt that the move was imminent through the media. “Although Chris Cardona last year pledged that the council would be consulted, we received no further feedback,” he said.
He also criticised the new stalls’ “cheap” design saying these were unbecoming for the capital’s entrance.
He raised concerns that the move would make the already acute parking problem even worse as hawkers would take up about 75 spaces during morning hours.
Prof. Dingli said he was against placing the stalls on a permanent basis saying this would affect plans to open Ordnance Street for residents during certain hours.