The Valletta Sunday Monti hawkers have been warned that unless they move to the site proposed by the government at the Park and Ride in Blata l-Bajda, the site could be offered to other hawkers.

The warning was made by Jason Azzopardi, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Businesses, who stressed, however, that this was not the course of action which the government wished to follow.

Dr Azzopardi was replying to a letter sent by the representatives of the hawkers.

The hawkers did not put up their stalls for the past two Sundays. They have been moved from St James Ditch because of works on a new bus terminus.

In a letter to Dr Azzopardi they said they had unanimously decided that the site chosen by the government is inadequate because it is not central, it lacks facilities, and the market would be disjointed, with traffic allowed through.

Instead they proposed three alternatives: St Anne Street, the Sarria area in Floriana and Belt is-Sebh and the carpark near the Hotel Phoencia.

Dr Azzopardi in his reply cast doubts about the unanimity of the hawkers' decision, saying the government had been told otherwise.

He said the three proposals had been studied by the government and rejected.

St Anne Street, he said, could not be closed for traffic and the hawkers would be an inconvenience to the residents.

The Sarria area was unsuitable for the hawkers themselves, because not only was it too small, but the area was, last year alone, closed off for 30 Sundays because of activities on the granaries.

The Belt is-Sebh area was also too small, and it caused security problems for nearby ministries.

He insisted that the Blata l-Bajda site was the only one which was large enough for the hawkers to set up their stalls and park their vans nearby as they said they wanted. It was also centrally located with easy parking and also accessible by public transport.

Dr Azzopardi said that the hawkers' failure to set up the market on Sundays could lead to a situation where the site was offered to other hawkers. There was big demand from other hawkers, he said, although this was not a course which the governemnt wished to follow.