The saga of Bisazza Street, Sliema, which some deem as a storm in a teacup, has and will have repercussions on the life of Sliema in general.
The closure of the road, which is said to have been sanctioned by the local council, has been the brainchild of some. Now that this personal satisfaction has been achieved , at a huge expense to the taxpayer, Sliema has woken up to a stark reality.
We have seen that the traffic in the inner roads of Sliema has increased significantly, all the motorists looking for an exit from Sliema to go to other towns. It seems that no traffic impact assessment has been conducted by the Transport Authority to gauge the effect of an exit closure and, so far, a number of parliamentary questions have been tabled hoping for an answer, albeit partial.
Traffic into the inner roads means more pollution and more noise to us who live in Sliema. Another effect is the hundreds of parking places removed from Sliema.
They are spaces that not only affect residents, who are again the direct target of these actions, but those workers who come to this area and shop owners. The move will result in less sales, possibly less employment and a drop in the standard of living of residents.
When I had the honour of serving as mayor of Sliema, Austin Gatt had called me a cowboy in a Sunday newspaper just because I had added parking spaces in every street in Sliema for the benefit of the same residents. At the same time, I modified kerb parking without impeding on the line of vision. Today, 13 years later, these spaces are still there and thank God for that. However, today, parking spaces have been removed with the stroke of a pen in order to cover up an embarrassing and horrible situation: the effect the closure of Bisazza Street had on the new public transport system. If I were a cowboy then what would the person who took such a decision be classified now having deprived Sliema of so many parking spaces?
Is the cost of Bisazza Street, which, I am informed, runs into millions of euros, to be borne by Sliema residents, faced by a situation that is not temporary but permanent to us who live here and who do not enjoy the services of a driver?
May I ask how the local council accepted to have such a situation in Sliema which is affecting all of the people in Sliema. Bowing to a minister does not mean Sliema residents should be hurt.
I am now told that the Sliema ferries plans are ready but nobody can see them because they are secret. We are probably in for another surprise and another spending spree in connection with a grand opening. I believe the council has the obligation towards its people to seriously discuss this project because we are likely to eventually get stuck in our own roads. Add to this the probability of more people being booked for contraventions by the wardens and the police and our living standards will surely be affected.
The council cannot be bulldozed on these issues. Did the council vote on something when it was aware that hundreds of parking places would be removed, that a traffic impact assessment would be conducted on the situation in the inner roads, that a bus lane would be installed and that kerb rather than fishbone parking would occur? Hopefully, now that all the facts are known, the local council can make its stand.
The widespread negative feedback from residents, shop owners, employees, clients has blurred the decision to have a traffic-free road. We could have avoided the aggravation through coordination and less bullying.
I feel it is my duty to voice the opinion of many Sliema residents.
The author is a Nationalist member of Parliament and parliamentary assistant at the Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment.