A design for the new Valletta open air market stalls was submitted to the government even though the local council rejected all submissions, Times of Malta has learnt.
Economy Minister Chris Cardona, who is handling the project, had still to decide whether to clear the new design and move the Monti to Ordnance Street, at the entrance of the capital, sources said.
Five shortlisted designs were presented to the local council in May but all were unanimously rejected as none of them were considered appropriate, the sources said. The presentation was made by Franco Schembri, an official from the Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business.
The local council suggested that a new design competition be launched but the selection committee, led by the president of the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers, Chris Mintoff, still decided to present the government with a “winning” design.
When contacted, Mr Schembri declined to give details on the state of play of the project and on the selected design.
Questions on the project sent to Dr Cardona’s office remained unanswered at the time of writing.
Before the election, Monti hawkers were promised by Labour to be relocated to Ordnance Street and number plates marking the place of the 75 individual stalls were fixed close to the Renzo Piano building.
The first design of the stalls, unveiled late last year, was immediately shot down as public opinion deemed it too tatty and clashing with the elegant new building at the city’s entrance.
The proposed stalls consisted of mixture of PVC, metal and wood, featuring eight-pointed crosses painted in red against a white background and led to indignation by environmental and heritage groups.
They were also described by the designers of the new Parliament as “shameful”. Mr Piano’s lead architect, Antonio Belvedere, said it was like “making a cake, then spitting on it”.
Both the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anġlu Farrugia, and the chairman of Valletta 18, Jason Micallef, joined the Valletta local council in opposing the relocation of the hawkers to outside the new Parliament.
The Nationalist Party also opposed the move with Opposition leader Simon Busuttil declaring that under a PN government there would be no Monti in Ordinance Street or anywhere near Piano’s project.
Before the last election, then Nationalist Cabinet minister Jason Azzopardi had agreed the move to Ordnance Street but stressed that “no stalls could be mounted alongside the new parliament building”.
The hawkers insisted the government should keep to its electoral promise.