The Sliema local council is adamant that it will re-introduce the suspended residents’ parking scheme if no agreement is reached with Transport Malta by Wednesday.
Mayor Anthony Chircop said the council had invited Transport Malta to make proposals on improving the controlled parking scheme after it was suspended following a Cabinet decision. TM had been given three weeks to come up with the proposals, a period which expires on Wednesday, said Mr Chircop.
“We offered a period for contacts but unfortunately none have taken place. I am still hoping TM will grant us a meeting by then.
“But if we continue being ignored, we will carry on with the implementation of the scheme once all our papers are in order and once TM had already given us the green light to implement it.
We must change this mentality that we expect everything for free
“We are legally correct,” Mr Chircop said when contacted.
A spokesman for the Transport Ministry said: “Transport Malta sticks to its position, which reflects the decision taken by Cabinet, and which was announced on May 7.
“The Sliema council, once again unilaterally, said it was postponing the scheme for three weeks. That is not TM’s or the Government’s position.”
The parking scheme was suspended on May 3, barely a week after coming into force, following a Cabinet decision taken a few hours after teachers in Sliema went on strike over the controversial issue.
The decision was taken, according to the Government, because the scheme was introduced “unilaterally and without an adequate trial period”, as well as causing problems in the area.
The scheme reserves half the town’s parking bays for residents. Non-residents can only park in them for two hours or face a €23.29 fine. Mr Chircop said the council had given the authorities enough time to come forward with its suggestions.
It did not want TM to discriminate against Sliema “because it’s Sliema”.
“If they stopped it here they should stop it in all other localities that have introduced this scheme with the blessing of Transport Malta. So why us? Why is Sliema at a disadvantage?”
He said that over the past three weeks the council had met several stakeholders, including representatives of the Sliema business community, with a view to fine tuning and improving the system.
What needs to change, he believes, is the mentality that drivers expect to park for free.
“We must change this mentality that we expect everything for free. If you drive to Valletta and drive into the city, you have to pay.
“Likewise, there are other localities where you have to pay to park. This has to happen in Sliema too because it is now densely populated, even in terms of cars,” he said.
“We do not want confrontation and gave TM these three weeks as a sign of goodwill and a sign that we are ready to talk.
“We acted with complete transparency and we cannot be discriminated against. If we continue being ignored, we will re-introduce it.”