Sliema is an extremely congested and overdeveloped town. This is not a modern-day situation. Sliema has always been congested and overdeveloped.

There were many architects who played a part in designing the buildings in Sliema. Alberto La Ferla and Edward Said immediately come to mind. But did any of these fine architects ever think of the design of Sliema as a whole?

Sliema comprises row upon row, street upon street of terraced houses. The houses had no front gardens, only back gardens surrounded by high walls so that no one could see them. There were no open spaces anywhere.  No public gardens. No respite from the terraced buildings, leading from street to street.

From the 1960s onwards, the property boom changed a lot of the old terraced houses into tall blocks of terraced flats – again, with no thought of open spaces or any relief from buildings.

Recently, there have been two major developments along the coast which give Sliema at least two large coastal gardens for recreation and rest. Only two.

Although temporary repair works have recently been done on Tower Road, Sliema probably has the worst roads on the island. The minor roads, and even the major roads, are in a terrible state. The coast road, which is supposed to be one of the major scenic roads and one used by our foreign visitors, was in a deplorable state until the temporary works were undertaken. It was simply an embarrassment, as well as dangerous.

One can only ask the question: why is Sliema left in this state, especially with all the millions being spent on roads throughout the country?

Sliema also has a horrific parking problem

Isouard street is the only internal road that has been recently relaid, and even that was not done very well.

I sincerely hope that Sliema has not been left like it is on purpose, because if that is the case, then we really have reached a low point in our culture.

Sliema also has a horrific parking problem. Many of the new apartment blocks have underground parking but the rest is a free-for-all. There is talk now of creating a parking area under the Exiles playground which should help a bit, but the authorities should look outside the box for solutions to this problem.

One possible solution is as follows: get the authorities to search the Sliema area very carefully and find those empty of buildings or those where buildings can be relocated, rebuilt or increased in height. Make a deal with the owners to either reposition the buildings of just get them demolished. Dig a multistorey car park under the site, and then create a beautiful landscaped garden on top, with trees, lawns and flower beds, just like the carpark in Floriana.

It is not just Sliema that has this overcrowding problem. The construction throughout the years in all towns and villages has the same terraced architecture with little or no open spaces ever thought of in the centre and among the residential buildings.

Sliema and St Julian’s do have two other areas that could do with some permanent redesign. Balluta valley and Spinola valley could be completely landscaped in an attractive way to give the local communities much needed recreational areas, with beautiful public gardens and parks.

It is just as well that the major replanning of the Sliema promenade was done a few years ago, otherwise the situation would be much worse than it is.

I hate having to state the obvious when it comes to things that are wrong around us, but Sliema roads and pavements are bad. There is no recreational area or public garden in the centre of town and there is a parking problem. 

Things must be said, and hopefully things will get done, not just as a temporary quick fix but on a permanent basis for the benefit of all residents.