Tables And Chairs Pushing Pedestrians Off Paceville Pavements
Walking on the pavements in Paceville has become quite a challenge, with several bars and restaurants erecting tables and chairs right outside their premises.
A person who works in St Julian’s flagged the problem to Lovin Malta, warning several operators are clogging the entire pavement and forcing pedestrians to walk on the street.
I paid a visit to the entertainment mecca in late morning and found this is indeed the case, particularly in Wilga Street and the surrounding side streets.
According to a new policy aimed at curtailing encroachment abuse, bars and restaurants which place tables and chairs outside their establishments must leave at least 1.5 metres of the pavement free for pedestrians – just about the space needed for two average-sized people to walk side by side.
As these pictures clearly show, many Paceville establishments are clearly not abiding by this policy and are not allowing pedestrians to walk on the sidewalk.
The police have largely cast a blind eye on such abuses so far, although – as reported by the Malta Independent – they did recently force an African bar owner in Marsa to clear out the tables and chairs encroaching the pavement outside his bar.
However, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat last weekend warned operators strict enforcement will soon begin on illegal encroachment of tables and chairs, just as it was taken this summer against beach operators placing deckchairs and umbrellas out illegally.
“It cannot be that a restaurant with a permit for four tables ends up filling the entire street up with tables,” he said. “I am warning these people from now that enforcement on encroachment will begin – we want businesses to do well, but we cannot poison the water hole we drink out of.”
Are there any other abuses in Malta you would like to flag? Please e-mail us on [email protected]
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