Gżira has been hijacked by businesses, AD warns

Pavements in Gżira have been taken over by business, resulting in a policy that puts businesses before the interests of people, MEP candidate and AD Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo has warned.

Cacopardo was speaking in Gżira together with Alternattiva Demokratika candidate for the Gżira Local Council, Jamie Mercieca, where he said that while the government brags about being "pro-business", this came at the expense of people. Accessible and safe infrastructure for people does not feature in the government’s and public authorities policies, Cacopardo said.

“Health and quality of life of residents depend mainly on the quality of the urban environment. Unfortunately, both the Planning and Tourism Authorities are not interested in accessible and people friendly urban infrastructure. They are not interested in accessible pavements but allow businesses to take over pavements to the detriment of residents who have difficulties accessing their homes and also create problems for the good functioning of basic services like waste collection,” he said.

Cacopardo added that it appeared as though the Planning Authority and the Tourism Authority expected people to walk in the middle of the street, to allow businesses to “completely occupy pavements.” He said that loading and unloading bays had been taken over by tables and chairs.

"The Planning Authority should stop endangering people’s lives. Residents have become prisoners of businesses. It is high time that local councils are not only consulted but given an effective and central role in decisions concerning urban infrastructure in their localities. "

He said the fact that Manoel Island, the only open space in the area, has been taken away by parliament and given to business, must be addressed.

“The case of Manoel Island is a case of daylight robbery with the support of both sides of Parliament twenty years ago. AD has been insisting all along that Manoel Island should not be developed and should be become an ecological park, the only Green lung in Gżira and its surrounding localities. There is still one last chance to avoid permanent damage. Our appeal to the Government is that instead of investing the profits from the sale of passports in banks, it should buy back Manoel Island and return it to the country. In this way, it will erase the error made by PN and PL in Parliament in 1999.”

Cacopardo said that AD is the answer because AD has also been in favour of residents. He said the protection of the urban environment is essential to defend the quality of life of residents in all our towns and villages.