Valletta traffic on NYE blamed on ‘surprising’ turnout

Transport Problems arose for three reasons, Dingli said during a brief meeting at the Valletta local council. “One problem was that a number of important roads were closed for transport vehicles returning to Valletta.

“Secondly, since it was New Year’s Eve, unlike Notte Bianca, there was a rush of people leaving straight after midnight, as opposed to people leaving at different times, and lastly not all drivers were working,” he said.

Asked whether the event could be joined with that of Floriana in the future to facilitate traffic, Dingli said “Such an event should be held in the Capital, like every other country in Europe. That being said, the Floriana local council did not want to collaborate with us on such logistics as transport”

Deputy mayor Joe Spiteri said “St Anne’s street in Floriana was closed, and this is impossible when you’ve got two large events happening so close to each other.”

“It was a mistake to grant a permit for that road to be closed when there are the granaries in Floriana,” Spiteri said. “A bottleneck was created- if an accident occurred it would have been impossible to get through.”

G7 events organiser Owen Spiteri said that in 2012 they intend spreading the event all over Valletta, and perhaps even have a children’s area in Merchant Street.

People also appeared to complain about the Christmas decorations that were turned off early in the evening. “This happened because some shops had problems with their timers- the decorations in Republic Street were of by 10.30 but they remained on in Merchant Street,” Dingli said.

Overall, the mayor, deputy mayor and event organiser agreed that “the event was a huge success”, with a surprising turnout of around 35,000 to 40,000 people.

“We are very satisfied with the turnout; luckily it was good weather and there were no reports of accidents from the police and civil protection,” Dingli said.

Owners of restaurants and coffee shops also claimed to be packed all night, the mayor said. “Shops were full from 8pm onwards, even in the periphery of Valletta, so from a commercial perspective it was also a success.”

There were complaints by attendants that not all shops were opened. On this, Dingli said “It was the choice of some shops to remain closed; we forced nobody to open but those who didn’t surely regretted it.”

Dingli said the event was organised on a budget which they could not exceed. “I hope that next year we will have better support from government and commercial entities.”