The Mosta local council is in full support of the underground parking initiative launched by Projects Malta, which will see a yet-to-be determined concessionaire enter into a public private partnership with the government to oversee its development and management.
In a press release issued this morning, the Mosta Local Council also proposed that all streets within the locality have designated parking slots painted on– believing that this will cost around €175,000 for 15,000 parking bays.
Mosta Mayor Edwin Vassallo suggested that CPPS funds administered by the Planning Authority (PA) the local council may be able to finance the painting of each parking bay.
The council also spoke of waiting for the government to approve a residential parking scheme, so that Mosta residents will be given priority with regards to parking.
“The council unanimously agrees that there is space for an underground parking lot in the centre of Mosta that can cater for roughly 400 vehicles. The council also agrees with the public private partnership model, and quickly informed the government of this agreement, allowing the development process to be sped up, under the authority of the government itself.”
The council wishes to inform the public that while visual diagrams have already been shown by local media, currently there is not final plan for this project.
“Should this project in any way affect the Mosta Dome Church, it will be stopped immediately and without hesitation. After consultation, Projects Malta identified four possible sites for this parking initiative. All four are equally able to withstand an underground parking scheme, there is not condition demanding that the underground project must take place next to the Church. Conditions of the project say that no excavation can take place underneath the ossuary or the Church.”
The scope of this project, is to create alternative parking areas, mitigate the congestion created from the many cars that waste time driving around the centre in the hopes of finding a parking spot, to create an open public space and reduce the number of tourist-coaches clustered in the centre.