A car park attendant who lost a court battle to stop a horse shelter from being built in the lower part of Valletta because it would eat away at parking spaces, has collected 170 signatures from residents and workers for the area to remain exactly as it is.
Paul Grech, 49, lives just minutes away from the parking area in Marsamxetto Road, Valletta, that he has managed for the past 18 years and is angry that the authority is “picking” on him.
“This is vindictive behaviour,” he said, adding that the removal of parking spaces was exactly the opposite of what the capital required.
Although the area is earmarked for the construction of a horse-drawn cab shelter, the road has practically no tourists and it would make more sense for the shelter to be further up next to the war memorial, he said.
As Mr Grech voiced his concerns, a government employee turned up to park his car agreeing that any removal of parking spaces would be ludicrous.
“Transport Malta should change its motto to making people’s lives hell!” he said, explaining that he and his wife used one car and had huge problems trying to park in the capital.
The issue began two weeks ago when contractors turned up at the parking area opposite the House of Catalunya to start work on the construction of the shelter.
Mr Grech immediately contacted his lawyers who secured a temporary warrant to stop them.
In court he argued that the authorities could not simply decide to move him away overnight and insisted that the removal of parking spaces would mean a dip in revenue for him.
He lost the case after Transport Malta said it had every right to transfer him to wherever it felt he was most needed. Furthermore, a licence granted to a car park attendant was not rigidly linked to a fixed location and building horse shelters formed part of the Valletta rehabilitation programme.
Mr Grech said he did not receive a salary from Transport Malta and lived off the tips he received from drivers. Yet, he had to pay €5 a day along with his licence fee every year.
Mr Grech’s lawyers, David Camilleri and José Herrera, yesterday wrote to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority informing them that there were no permits for the building of the horse shelter.