Plans to relocate the Valletta monti stalls to the capital’s entrance is proving to be a slippery road for a father and son who are closely connected to the controversial project.
They are former Labour Party president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, who chairs the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation – the government entity responsible for the new Valletta entrance project – and his father, Joe, who is considered by hawkers to be the main promoter of the planned move to Ordnance Street.
Asked to state his position on whether the monti hawkers should be moved so close to the Renzo Piano project, Dr Zrinzo said: “The relocation of the open market does not fall within the remit of the GHRC.”
He was asked whether as chairman of the State entity responsible for the project he was in favour of the planned move.
“My role as chairman is to ensure the GHRC carries out tasks entrusted to it by the government,” he said, steering clear of the monti issue. His father was just as cautious. Mr Zrinzo did not want to go into detail and insisted he was not in a position to speak about the project.
The relocation of the open market does not fall within the remit of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation
He would only say that according to an agreement signed with the Labour Party before the election, the plan was to have the stalls spread in two rows.
These would be covering the area between the Wignacourt fountain, below St James Cavalier, and the other side of Ordnance Street, excluding the intersection with Republic Street.
Monti hawkers who spoke to Times of Malta said it was thanks to Mr Zrinzo that the agreement was struck with Labour to move to Ordnance Street.
In June 2013, when it was first revealed that the hawkers had struck a deal with Labour prior to the election to relocate permanently to Ordnance Street, Mr Zrinzo, as spokesman for the hawkers, had said the move to this Valletta street was a done deal.
“The sooner the infrastructure is completed in Ordnance Street, the sooner the hawkers will be able to move from Merchants Street,” he had said.
Before the election, the Nationalist Party had also agreed with hawkers to move to Ordnance Street, the agreement laying down that both Republic Street and the site near the new Parliament building were out of bounds. PN leader Simon Busuttil recently declared that no part of Ordnance Street should be used as an open market because that was not compatible with Valletta’s new grand entrance.
Small Business Minister Cardona has gone on record saying he was aiming to fit the 75 stalls on one side of Ordnance Street – the left-hand side of Republic Street, walking in through City Gate – to ensure they did not have a visual impact on the Renzo Piano project.
“If physically possible we’re going to fit all the stalls on the left-hand side, without interfering with the new parliament, Republic Street and the old theatre,” he said, amid public outcry to keep the stalls away from the project.