The Valletta local council will be filing a formal complaint with Transport Malta after two white parking bays were transformed into slots reserved for a ministry and a parliamentary secretary without it being informed.
“We have requested a meeting with Transport Malta to discuss the matter as it is not fair on residents,” mayor Alexiei Dingli said.
The two spaces, next to the church in St Paul’s Street, were painted yellow yesterday with signs set up reserving one for the Economy Ministry, which falls under Chris Cardona, and the other for Justice Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici.
When contacted a spokesman for Dr Cardona denied the parking bay was assigned to the ministry, insisting the sign was not theirs.
Gabriella Agius, executive secretary of the Valletta local council, said she had not been told who had been assigned the bays.
“I know that Dr Cardona has a parking bay, which we were consulted about, in St Paul’s Street but it’s further up, corner with Old Theatre Street”.
The council had not been consulted either over the bay assigned to Dr Bonnici, she said. A spokesman for Dr Bonnici said they were unaware of the change. The new parking bays angered a number of Valletta residents, who posted photos and comments on the council’s Facebook page. Ms Agius said the council found out about the bays this way.
“We received a lot of complaints over it,” she said. “If anything, we wanted to be informed about it and that is what the complaint will be about.
“We couldn’t even tell the residents that the bays were going to be removed because we didn’t know about it.”
Other ministries had informed the council about which parking bays would be reserved.
“We are looking into the possibility of seeing whether the reserved parking could be limited to certain hours.”
When it was pointed out to her that ministers had use of a car and a driver, Ms Agius said she did her best to see everyone’s point of view.
“There is a new Administration in place and I want to try and understand what they are thinking.”
Deputy mayor Christian Micallef pointed out that the white bays were used by both Valletta residents and by visitors.
“We already have a problem here. I understand that the new Government needs parking but not to the detriment of Valletta.”