The Union Haddiema Maghqudin will meet the Prime Minister tomorrow afternoon in what seems to be a last ditch attempt to convince the government to let the monti hawkers set up their stalls somewhere else rather than St James’ Ditch.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday afternoon, UHM secretary general Gejtu Vella said the UHM held two “lengthy” telephone conversations with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in the morning and again in the afternoon. Mr Vella said they agreed to meet tomorrow at 3pm at Castille in order to try finding a solution to the problem.

In the meantime, Mr Vella said in reply to The Malta Independent on Sunday’s questions, the monti hawkers will meet at St James’ Ditch at 8am and will not set up their stalls. When asked how the union knows that setting up their stalls in the ditch is not financially viable for the hawkers, Mr Vella replied that it had not worked in the past because St James’ Ditch is far from the centre of the city.

Asked by The Malta Independent on Sunday whether it would make more sense if the hawkers had to set up their stalls at St James’ Ditch until a solution is found and also in order to gauge how worse off they will be, Mr Vella replied that the union did not believe in “trial and error”.

Replying to another question on why the hawkers are opposing St James’ Ditch so much when they set up their stalls there every Sunday, Mr Vella said that on Sundays the ditch is viable because people go to the market “as a family outing”. On a daily basis, when people are rushing around Valletta, a market which is more central would earn them more money, he said.

Moreover, he said, the union has received reports that shops in Merchants’ Street where the market used to be a week ago reported a decline in sales, which they blamed on the fact that the monti had moved.

The issue is split into two: where the hawkers will temporarily set up their stalls until Merchants’ Street is paved – two to three months – and where the monti will be based on a permanent basis. He said the union has proposed a more organised market, maybe even in single file along Merchants’ Street. He said the idea of relocating the monti further down Merchants’ Street would create problems for residents living there.

Mr Vella said that after the meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday afternoon, the union will decide on the next step. He warned that the union is prepared to take any action possible to protect these 120 hawkers and their families who, at the moment, are not making any money anyway since their wares remained inside their vans all week as they refused to sell as a form of protest.