Merchants Street shop owners were still in the dark as to whether the Valletta open market will move permanently to the upper part of the street, while hawkers met behind closed doors on Monday.

Sources said that at the meeting, the hawkers received the relocation numbers indicating where they would be setting up their stalls once the move occurs.

Contacted yesterday, Joe Zrinzo, who said he was a ‘voluntary interlocutor’ with the government to settle the issue on behalf of the hawkers, confirmed a meeting had taken place but insisted it was a “closed meeting” and would not disclose any further details.

“I have no comment to make at this point as everything is still in a state of flux,” he said.

President of the Merchants Street Business Community Association Tonio Camilleri said that the association had been excluded from meetings and had only met with the Malta Chamber of SMEs, GRTU, on Monday, which had offered its full support.

Meanwhile, shop owners were becoming increasingly concerned that if the market was to be permanently located in their street, they risked losing even more business, as franchises would be requesting different locations for their shops.

“Members have told us that the franchise representatives have been telling them that if the market is to be relocated, they will consider packing and leaving the island altogether,” Mr Camilleri said.

While he did not disclose which franchises were expressing these concerns,Mr Camilleri said the Office of the Prime Minister had been provided with a full list of the franchises.

“Business owners have invested thousands of euros to bring certain brands over to Malta and these franchises impose on them a number of regulations. That is one of the many aspects which need to be consider,” he added.

Last week, monti hawkers were overheard saying that they would be moving to the upper part of the street soon, which prompted the association to inform lawyers to prepare for an injunction.

Before the last general election, the Labour Party committed to relocating the market to Ordnance Street. The change was planned to take place at the beginning of the year but was halted following a public outcry that such a move would spoil the area around the new Parliament building.