A three-and-a-half hour meeting between Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM) representatives regarding the relocation of the Valletta open-air market (monti) yielded no results yesterday, even though the government presented new proposals for both the temporary and permanent relocation of the market.

The 115 street hawkers who are all members of the UHM, had been told to relocate their stalls to St James Ditch from last Monday, while new paving is laid in Merchants Street, but they refused to put up their stalls as a sign of protest, complaining that they would suffer a loss of custom if they operated from the ditch.

They also staged two impromptu protest marches along the central streets of Valletta on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The open-air market will be permanently relocated to a new area further down Merchants Street, which will be pedestrianised once the embellishment project is completed.

However, the street hawkers are against this relocation, particularly since they are saying that the area as proposed by the government is too small.

The area covers the stretch along Merchants Street linking Old Theatre Street to Archbishop Street, including the square in front of the historic Valletta market (Is-Suq tal-Belt). The section of Old Theatre Street which was allocated to some stalls is also included in the plan.

The street hawkers want to be granted permission to temporarily set up their stalls in Freedom Square, or Ordnance Street, while Merchants Street is being done up.

Once the embellishment project is complete, they want to return to the location from where they had so far been operating – the stretch along Merchants Street that links St John Street to Old Theatre Street, and the section in Old Theatre Street.

While UHM representatives insisted on the street hawkers’ position during yesterday’s meeting, the government presented alternative proposals for relocation of the open-air market once the Merchants Street project is completed.

The Prime Minister told UHM representatives that the government was ready to consider extending the proposed site towards Archbishop Street and possibly even St Christopher Street. Dr Gonzi offered to immediately appoint a technical committee to prepare a new plan for the new site.

The government was also ready to amend the regulations regarding the size of the hawkers’ stalls, in a manner that would suit all the operational needs of the open-air market.

Among the government’s temporary proposals for the open-air market were the area in St James Ditch that was closer to City Gate, an area close to Fort St Elmo, or the stretch in Merchants Street between Archbishop Street and St Christopher Street.

The government was ready to consider other alternative temporary sites, but Freedom Square was not considered appropriate for an open-air market.

In a statement issued yesterday evening, UHM said all the government’s proposals were unsatisfactory, because the street hawkers would still suffer a loss of custom if they operated from the proposed temporary locations.

As for the street hawkers’ proposal to temporarily put up their stalls in Freedom Square, or Ordnance Street, UHM said the hawkers were also ready not to put up their stalls whenever the area was needed for national activities.

UHM said the government’s position was still rigid; the government was not seriously taking into consideration that the open-air market, which has operated from Merchants Street for the past 20 years, forms part of the country’s micro-economic activity.

The Valletta open-air market has a strong socio-cultural character and cannot be considered to be the same as open-air markets in other towns and villages.

UHM said that by moving the open-air market further down Merchants Street for reasons that have not yet been explained clearly, the government is threatening the livelihood of the street hawkers and their families.

Both the union and the government said they were ready to continue discussing the matter.

The government said however, that it was duty-bound to take decisions in the best interest of the country and the capital city. UHM, on the other hand, said it was still expecting the government to recognise the need for serious consultation with due consideration being given to the conditions of work and livelihood of workers.