The outlook for business in Valletta is deteriorating fast because government projects are not being properly planned, the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU has warned.

“Should the government remain obstinate about its plans as they stand today, plans which were never approved by the business community, the future of commerce is clouded,” the GRTU said.

It complained that too much parking space was being taken up by works such as pedestrianis-ation of streets and restoration of historic buildings.

“Businessmen have enormous expenses and strong competition from other commercial centres to deal with. If consumers do not have easy access, they will avoid entering the city because they can turn to other places,” it said. “The outlets, places of entertainment, coffee shops, restaurants and service providers cannot afford to suffer any more losses because of discouraged customers.”

It called for a plan to ensure that the affected areas did not continue to deteriorate, adding that its proposals for improving the situation had so far been ignored.

The ministries responsible for infrastructure and for resources said in a reply that more business was being generated through the ongoing embellishment works, which took place after consulting the GRTU.

Referring to the lack of parking, they said nobody wanted the capital city to become a garage for parked cars because “otherwise, the value of shops in Valletta would drop.”