Many businesses in Valletta are still mulling whether to open on Monday, when thousands will visit the capital city to see their leader take his place as Malta’s 12th Prime Minister since Independence.
It is usual practice for the leader of the party winning the election to be sworn in by the President at the palace in Valletta and then go to the Office of the Prime Minister in Castille, with well-wishers packing the capital.
Apart from traffic and parking problems, businesses also consider the fact that staff members might also want to join the celebrations – or stay home to commiserate.
Paul Fenech, head of the Republic Street Business Community Association, said that food and beverage outlets tended to see the day as a good opportunity for business. However, family-run outlets could afford to wait and decide on the day because they would not be as reliant on what their staff wanted to do.
Many of them will opt to stay closed
“However, those with staff need to decide early and the feedback we are getting is that many of them will opt to stay closed,” he said.
Going by the experience of the past, it is not only businesses in Valletta that may remain closed. Some companies, such as Rocs, will not open for business, in some cases forcing staff to take a day’s leave. Maltapost said that almost a dozen sub-post offices would be closed.
Supermarkets will also be affected, by the traffic, by the fact that shopping may be the last thing on their customers’ minds and by the fact that their staff may want to take the day off.
Scotts and Park Towers will be closed while Pavi and Pama have decided to remain open, albeit with a skeleton staff and reduced hours.
Gozo Channel chairman Joe Cordina said that no changes to the ferry schedule were planned and Malta Public Transport general manager Konrad Pulé said the company would operate more early services tomorrow Saturday for assistant electoral commissioners to be able to travel to the voting stations, as was done in the previous election.
“However there are no specific changes in service we are planning. Having said that, we understand that the traffic will be affected on both days and we will work with the police and Transport Malta to manage the situation at that point,” he said.
Many schools have decided to stay closed, partly because of the traffic on the roads, which will make access hard, and also because teachers and parents may want to join the celebrations.
Government schools were expected to stay open but private schools sent a circular to parents saying they had been advised not to open, with St Michael’s and San Anton opting to close and San Andrea opening but warning that no transport would be available.
Other schools are taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude. St Monica’s, in Gżira has advised parents that children not making to school on the day would be marked as being ‘excused’ and not ‘absent’ but noted that if there were fewer than 10 children in the class, they would be sent home.