The owner of a restaurant in Little Armier is at wit’s end dealing with contraventions and illegalities scattered throughout the bay.

“It’s a jungle of illegalities in the vicinity,” Luke Gatt, the owner of Ray’s Lido, told Lovin Malta.

Between campers taking up multiple parking spots for days, illegal parking and even a kiosk that Gatt says is not in line with Maltese laws or COVID-19 guidelines, the restaurant has been left feeling ignored and forced to fend for themselves.

Now, Gatt is calling out a total lack of enforcement when it comes to certain “untouchables”.

He lamented that kiosks with hawker licenses were accessing water and electricity, which they shouldn’t be able to do, and were not obliged to go through sanitary requirements even though it serves the same product as a restaurant.

“Their license is €40 euro every three years… how can we compete? They can literally drive their van 10cm from the sandy beach, much closer to beachgoers than we are,” he said. “I’ve contacted all the relevant authorities – and their reply is: ‘our hands are tied’. No one wants to take action, especially if someone knows a politician.”

He also complained of vehicles abusing the fishbone parking in Little Armier, with coaches-cum-caravans towing other caravans and other vehicles taking up parking spots all week to keep them for Sunday.

“Sometimes, some families take up eight or nine parking spots,” he lamented. “Obviously, a coach cannot turn to face the building, so it’ll just take up all the spaces. And then the police tell you the markings are just there for reference.”

However, Gatt said he had no problem with campers who are prudent and observe the law.