Sliema residents are currently plagued by massive construction equipment, including cranes with their long, throbbing arms, defying dizziness, over blocks of concrete – rebuilding, restoring, building and adding more floors atop other buildings.
It seems as if no street, no matter how minor, is suffering any sense of loneliness, for they are invaded by workmen, wardens and ancillary personnel.
Whole blocks are covered in forest green gauze held tight with metal bars constructed for this purpose – a colourful scene indeed!
Anyone who has time to spare can stop and watch, lean out from balconies and observe the commotion.
It is not my intention to criticise the work being carried out. It is almost painful to observe the traffic jams, with angry or bewildered drivers who suddenly find themselves trying to find a way out of this bedlam they unsuspectingly found themselves, with the aim of getting on to the main road.
Comical? Certainly not for the drivers! The saying “all roads lead to Rome” does not apply here. None of the side streets, particularly around Dingli Street, will get drivers to the main street – all are barred with machinery, churning material for construction.
Walking through all this hubbub may get one to reach one’s destination. Exercise is very much being encouraged by slimming salons and healthcare services.
Huge and colourful machinery, men at work in bright high-visibility jackets, impassable cordoned-off areas marked with the inevitable ‘no parking’ signs – what would it be like, if we, who do not have any garage or car space, were able to hang our cars from the metal bars of these cranes? Makes me think of Star Wars – vehicles zooming among the clouds!
I am not exactly in a joking mood. Sliema residents who own cars but no garage have been known to leave their homes past midnight to get to their car from God knows where they had to park it to bring it near their home.
What needs to be done has to be done, so may the work started be continued with bricks and mortar, cement and steel bars or what have you, and one day may all be finished and Sliema residents will have some breathing space and peace.