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James Debono
Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo has downplayed his reference to MIDI’s development in Tigné as the “new Paceville” in a remark made on Smash TV while debating the contentious Qui-Si-Sana car park in Sliema.
Vassallo described his remark as “a figure of speech”, adding that the MIDI development will be similar to the Bay Street complex in St Julians.
Edwin Vassallo was defending the government’s decision to lease public land at Qui-Si-Sana for the development of a car park and mall, amid protests by residents that the development will turn Qui-Si-Sana into a new Paceville.
The latest plans for Qui-Si-Sana include a 24-alley bowling alley, restaurants and a theatre.
Vassallo said his comment was sparked by Sliema Labour councillor Martin Debono who called him a “lackey of the MIDI consortium”.
“I am not MIDI’s lackey. The real MIDI lackeys are those opposing the Qui-Si-Sana car park,” Vassallo told MaltaToday, who says the car park is important to safeguard the commercial core in Bisazza Street and Tower Road.
But a spokesperson for the Manoel Island and Tigné Point Development Consortium disagreed with Edwin Vassallo’s analogy between the Tigné development and Paceville.
“The Tigné development is as similar to Paceville as existing commercial development in the Plaza area in Sliema and Valletta are,” MIDI spokesperson Ben Muscat told MaltaToday.
Although the project includes leisure and retail outlets, including a cinema and catering facilities, Muscat insists that the Tigné development will be completely different from Paceville, and will also be marketed as a heritage attraction. “Tigné will be fully pedestrianised and a substantial part of the development will be dedicated to residential and office space.”
According to Edwin Vassallo, the Qui-Si-Sana car park, situated halfway between the new MIDI development and Ghar id-Dud, will safeguard shop owners in Bisazza Street and the Plaza area from competition from planned retail outlets at Tigné.
Vassallo said shoppers would simply bypass the present commercial core in Sliema without the Qui-Si-Sana car park, and instead shop at Tigné. “Shoppers simply drift to areas where they can park their cars. If the only car park available is at Tigné they will simply park and shop there.”
Vassallo’s own comments contrast with those by Roads and Urban Development Minister Jesmond Mugliett during a meeting with Qui-Si-Sana residents in November. Mugliett had said “the Qui-Si-Sana car park is necessary to ensure the MIDI project has enough parking spaces.”
The MIDI developers themselves insist their project is self-sufficient as regards parking and does not require additional parking spaces in nearby Qui-Si-Sana.
Vassallo warned the Plaza area in Sliema could become a third-rate business location, similar to Manwel Dimech Street, if it lacks sufficient parking facilities.
Other car parks closer to the present core like the one at Town Square are also being proposed. But Vassallo insists they are not enough to meet Sliema’s demand for parking.
Ironically, it was the government’s plans to redirect traffic from Bisazza Street all the way through Tigné and Qui-Si-Sana that triggered the protest of shop owners, concerned it will shift the Sliema commercial core from the Plaza area to Tigné.
Vassallo acknowledged that shop owners were justified in protesting against the removal of parking spaces at the Sliema ferries. But he also said that following his intervention, the government changed tack by revising its original plans, which involved a loss of parking spaces at the ferries.
Just a few weeks before the local council elections next week, the government has promised it will be investing Lm1 million to create new parking spaces on reclaimed land at the ferries to compensate for lost parking spaces in the area.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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