Almost four months after it was closed to traffic, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino yesterday inaugurated the upgrading of one of Malta’s iconic streets – Bisazza Street, at the heart of Sliema.

Synonymous with shopping and leisure for decades, works on Bisazza Street cost around €750,000.

The street has now not only become fully pedestrianised, but the square side of the street, which was formally a traffic parking space, has been transformed into a square characterised by planters, two fountains and benches.

The pavements have also been widened and the street’s former lighting has been replaced by environmentally-friendly LEDs.

Dr Gonzi also unveiled the sculpture of three persons – late popular actors Charles Clews, Gemma Portelli and Victor Apap – sitting around a table, with a vacant fourth chair, allowing for anyone to join and have their photo taken with the group.

He hailed three other upgrading projects which the government has recently completed in Sliema: The embellishment of Tower Street and Manuel Dimech Street and the regeneration of St Anne’s Square and the George Bonello Dupuis garden at Qui-si-Sana.

Dr Gonzi paid tribute to residents of Sliema for living in a locality which has long been a touristic and commercial success, and said that these projects will inject further vitality into one of Malta’s much loved and aesthetically pleasing localities.

Minister Pullicino said that Bisazza Street has been made better for everyone to enjoy, and forms part of the government’s commitment in creating more recreational and open spaces in different parts of Malta and Gozo.

He also made reference to the small piazza, which is now wi-fi accessible, and remarked that the most used wi-fi spot in Malta is not St George’s Square in Valletta, but St Anne Square around the corner.

The minister said that over the past year-and-a-half, regular discussions have been held with the council and the business community. It was agreed that works on Bisazza Street would begin two or three weeks after Christmas, stop for two weeks at Easter and be finished before summer, to ensure that works would not hamper the tourism industry.

To celebrate the upgrading of Bisazza Street, all shops in Sliema will be open all day today, as part of a family fun day with entertainment for all the family, children’s games, fashion shows and competitions.