The best design for the planned monti stalls outside Parliament is due to be chosen and recommended to the government within about two weeks, the evaluation committee chairman has told Times of Malta.
Chris Mintoff, who is also president of the Chamber of Architects, said the selection process was moving ahead and should soon be concluded. “Actually we have not been given a time frame, but I am hopeful that we will be in a position to wrap up our work and present the conclusions to the government in a fortnight,” he said.
Times of Malta is informed that the 23 designs submitted have been screened by the committee set up by the government and a few have been earmarked for the final selection stage.
Asked whether there were any changes to the plan to relocate the open-air market to Valletta’s Ordnance Street beside the new Parliament, in view of the recent concerns over security expressed by Speaker Anġlu Farrugia, Mr Mintoff said he had not received any instructions to stop his work.
He said the Chamber of Architects had already made it clear it was against the placing of stalls in the vicinity of Parliament but the government was waiting for the committee to conclude the selection process.
“Our brief was to select the best design for the stalls and no one gave us any other instructions. It is up to Minister Chris Cardona to decide whether to proceed or not.”
Sources close to the monti hawkers, who also form part of the selection committee, told Times of Malta the selected design was likely to be of permanent structures which would not need to be dismantled every day.
The hawkers are insisting the government keep its electoral promise and move the market to Ordnance Street.
Earlier this year, following a public uproar over the original design of the stalls, the government decided to return to the monti stall drawing board.
The mix of PVC, metal and wood, featuring eight-pointed crosses painted in red against a white background, had generated a nationwide cacophony of disapproval.
Small Business Minister Mr Cardona later admitted that this was not the best design and promised he would try to fit the 75 stalls on one side of Ordinance Street so that they would have no visual impact on the Renzo Piano project.
However, a final decision on the location has still to be taken by the government.