L-uffiċju tal-Ombudsman għal darba oħra saħaq fuq il-bżonn li l-ispazji pubbliċi jibqgħu pubbliċi u mhux jiġu ikapparrati minn imwejjed, siġġijiet jew deckchairs, skond il-post. Rajna li kulma jmur il-politika ta’ business first qiegħda tnaqqar b’rata mgħaggla bankini xtut u parking spaces. Minflokhom qed naraw jinbtu pjattaformi li jimtlew bl-imwejjed. Nies mexjin fit-triq jaf ikollhom jinżlu minn fuq il-bankina sabiex ikunu jistgħu jgħaddu, u dan jista’ jkun ta’ periklu għalihom.
Waqt konferenza stampa f’San Pawl il-Baħar iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD-The Green Party u kunsilliera fl-istess lokalità Sandra Gauci qalet: F’pajjż li kulma jmur qed iżid fil-popolazzjoni, is-sens ta’ klawstrofobija dejjem qed jiżdied u n-nies saru aktar konxji ta’ kull ċentimetru ta’ spazju pubbliku meta dan jitteħdilhom. Fejn qabel dawn l-affarijiet kienu jsiru f’postijiet turistiċi bħal Tas-Sliema, San Ġiljan u San Pawl il-Baħar, illum narawhom ukoll fi rħula li ma jitqisux turistiċi. Jidher car li l-pjan hu li kull ċentimetru ta’ art tiġi monetizzata, b’deckchairs jew siġġijiet skond fejn u kif jaqbel għan-negozju.
Il-problema ta’ mobilità u storbju li joħolqu hija waħda kbira. Nemmnu li l-gvern għandu jagħti kas l-ilmenti tar-residenti li kulma jmur qed jingħaqdu raħal raħal f’dak li hu assedju legalizzat. Fejn qabel, aħna ta’ ADPD-The Green Party konna l-uniċi li qajjimna dan il-punt, illum ħafna raw id-dawl u ingħaqdu b’vuċi waħda kontra dan l-abbuż. Il-fatt li kellna każijiet fejn lanqas ambulanza ma setgħet tgħaddi – u din ġrat aktar minn darba – juri kemm l-awtoritajiet ftit li xejn jimpurtahom mir-residenti.
Ma ninsewx ukoll persuni b’diżabilità jew ġenituri b’pushchairs li jkollhom jissograw jgħaddu minn nofs it-triq għax tkun faqqset xi pjattaforma ġdida jew il-bankina tkun ġiet ikapparrata. Aħna bħalma dejjem għedna m’aħniex kontra n-negozju, ġaladarba dan isir b’rispett lejn ir-residenti, imma sfortunatament dawn ma għandhom rispett lejn xejn u lejn ħadd ħlief lejn buthom.
Mhux l-ewwel darba li aħna bħala ADPD-The Green Party tkellimna dwar dan u ġbidna l-attenzjoni ta’ kemm qed tittieħed art pubblika f’isem in-negozju. Li jkollok tħallas biex taċċessa fejn qabel kien b’xejn hu serq u li art tal-gvern u spazji pubbliċi jingħataw biċ-ċiċri lill-Big Business hija prattika immorali li ma tixraqx lil min suppost ġie elett biex jirrappreżenta liċ-ċittadin, imma huwa ovvju li qiegħed fil-but tan-negozji. B’din ir-rata addio xtut b’xejn u t-toroq tagħna se jispiċċaw restaurant kbir open air. Għax l-aqwa l-flus.
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Public Spaces – Pedestrians are being forced off pavements
Once again, the Office of the Ombudsman has called out for the need for public spaces to remain public and not overtaken by tables, chairs, or deckchairs. We have seen that a politics of business first is slowly eating away at our pavements, coasts, and parking spaces at an alarming rate. In their stead, we are witnessing platforms erected for tables and chairs. Pedestrians are being forced off pavements to walk in the streets to go on with their daily business, and this is exposing them to potential dangers.
During a press conference in Saint Pauls Bay ADPD-The Green Party Chairperson Sandra Gauci, who is also a local councillor in the same locality said: In a country experiencing population growth, the sense of claustrophobia has increased, and the people are more conscious than ever before of each centimetre of public space being slowly being taken away. Whilst these actions were usually reserved for the touristic towns such as Sliema, St Julians and St Pauls Bay, we nowadays also see this practice in towns and villages which are not considered touristic. It is clear that there is a plan to monetise every single centimetre of land, with deckchairs or chairs according to the business location at hand.
Mobility issues as well as noise are creating significant problems. We believe that the government should address residents’ complaints, who are joining forces across various towns and villages. In previous years, ADPD-The Green Party was the only entity to raise its concern about this issue; now many have realised the importance of the issue and are voicing their concerns about this abuse. The fact that we had incidents whereby ambulances could not pass through blocked streets – and this has happened more than once – shows that the authorities care very little about the residents.
We cannot forget people with special needs or parents who use pushchairs who are forced to walk into the streets because a pavement is blocked by a platform or by chairs and tables. We reiterate that we are not against business as long as residents are respected, but unfortunately these businesses have no respect for anybody or anything except their own pockets.
It is not the first time that we as ADPD-The Green Party have spoken against this and have drawn attention to the fact that public land is being taken up by private operators in the name of business. Having to pay to access what was previously free is daylight robbery, and the practice of giving public spaces and public land to Big Business for a pittance is immoral. This does not reflect well upon those who were elected to represent citizens; it is obvious that these people are in cahoots with the business operators. At this rate we can say goodbye to our coasts and streets which are becoming a single open-air restaurant. Because at the end of the day, making money is what counts in this country.
