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After Winning The Deckchair Fight, Maltese Online Community Eyes Next Target

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As summer in Malta rolls on, more and more beaches and seaside resorts around the islands are being hit with charging controversies, petitions for the removal of deckhairs, and an all-round degrading state. Amidst all this, truckloads of illegally-placed deckchairs and umbrellas are being confiscated and removed from Malta’s beaches in what’s shaping up to be a national crackdown initiative. 

Now, some people are already setting their sights on the next ‘target’… car park attendants, or as they’re more commonly known in Malta, parkers.

In a post on the ever-growing online community The Salott, parkers in public places were singled out as the next issue to tackle. “They cannot be allowed to carry on asking for money from people in public parking spaces,” the post started. “The law states that you should be allowed to give as much money as you want. And God forbid you don’t give them anything, because they might quickly vandalise your car in return.”

“If they want the money, they should go work like everyone else,” the post continued. “Nothing in life comes easy. We don’t need parkers, because if you have a driving license, then you should know how to park.”

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The post got over 150 likes in less than 24 hours, with dozens of people absolutely agreeing. Certain people recalled negative past experiences from parking areas around the islands, while others pointed out that “something needs to be done.”

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The post, however, was also met with counter-arguments that, like any other seemingly sweeping statement, there are exceptions to this observation. “The two parkers in Golden Bay do an excellent job and are always joking with everyone,” one user commented, going to say that without them, there would definitely be “lots of heated arguments and parking chaos”. Other comments supported this claim, defending the role of parkers in Malta, especially considering how many people seem to give very little attention to each other on the road.

One other user commented on what he considered to be a very common Maltese trait of complaining about everything; be it deckchairs, parkers, or whatever crops up next. Another user offered up an entire list of issues which should be more pressing in Malta, including anything from employees abusing sick leave to shops selling alcohol to underage people.

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Last November, Transport Malta had announced that no new licences for car park attendants will be issued. Having said that, it also specified that it would be renewing all the existing licenses on an annual basis, making the current generation of parkers in Malta the last ever. When Illum had confronted Transport Malta on the issue of tips given to parkers (which can easily amount to hundreds, if not thousands, of Euro per day in certain busy parking areas), the answer was simple; there is no obligation for car park attendants to declare this income.

What do you make of all this? Let us know in the comments below.

READ NEXT: Xi Ħaġa Għall-Parker, Please

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).

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