Valletta shop owners should be compensated for the loss of business caused by infrastructural works in the capital city and loss of parking spaces, the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU said.

It also called for the immediate suspension of the controlled vehicle access (CVA) system, arguing that service providers who found it almost impossible to park should not pay the hefty charges.

Sections of South Street, Melita Street and others were closed for paving works while Freedom Square was closed due to the City Gate project. The GRTU said it supported the paving project but there was a reasonable way of doing things.

"Despite all the rules and regulations that prohibit construction works in peak tourism months, dust and construction equipment is all over the place," the GRTU said.

It said not only had Parliament usurped all the parking spaces in the most important part of Valletta but parking also vanished from most streets that serviced the commercial sector and the city had become one big construction site.