Żejtun residents are urging the authorities to hand over a piece of land to the local council to be used in an embellishment project that will revamp one of its main squares.

Together with another 30 Żejtun residents, Emmanuel Camilleri wrote to The Sunday Times complaining about the state of Independence Square: “It is disastrous and it is a shame,” he said.

The square was full of potholes and dangerous, with high steps and slippery ramps, the residents said in a letter. “We are suffering consequences such as broken (car) suspension, burst tyres, leg injuries and other unnecessary hardships due to this situation.”

The square is also used by the market hawkers who set up their stalls regularly every Wednesday. The market draws hundreds every week but the hawkers have to set up their stalls on dirt because there is nothing else, Mr Camilleri said.

Six years ago, the local council drew up a set of plans and eventually applied for a planning authority permit to embellish and overhaul the square.

However, the plans cannot be implemented without a small plot of undeveloped land which is situated close to the square and belongs to a private individual.

The council requested the land from the Joint Office and the Lands Department, pointing out it was for the use of the community. However, the request has been pending at the Joint Office for the past six years, the residents protested.

Mayor Joe Attard explained that the embellishment plans for the square could not go ahead without the land.

“The square has disintegrated and it was never repaired, so we really need this project. We have the Mepa permits – we got them last summer – and we have the architects’ plans,” Mr Attard said.

Through the project, the square will be resurfaced, embellished with modern street lighting and a public area.

“When I last checked at the Joint Office, I was told that the request was being processed,” he said.

Questions sent to the ­Parliamentary Secretariat for Lands on Friday remained ­unanswered.