The Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises said that, with effect from yesterday, it was withdrawing its support to the Controlled Vehicular Access to Valletta and told its members to await any directives that it feels should be issued in the coming days.

The GRTU said that the government had introduced the CVA system to prevent drivers taking up parking spaces for many hours. The government’s argument was that, through such a scheme, the central part of Valletta would accommodate a larger number of cars during the day.

The GRTU and the associations of shop owners in Republic and Merchants Streets were all taking part in a campaign to encourage more customers who now, supposedly, can find more parking spaces in Valletta.

None of the shop owners expected a Lm700 gift of free parking every year, and none of them is comfortable enough to pay so much for parking a car in Valletta. And therefore none of them expected that the government would allow Valletta open air market hawkers to be allowed free parking in central Valletta every day between 6.30am and 2.30pm, the GRTU said.

The chamber added that monti hawkers were occupying the best parking spaces in Valletta, and since no solution had been found, despite GRTU pressure, the chamber was withdrawing its support for the CVA system.

In a counter-statement, the ministry said that the monti hawkers’ vehicles are parked close to the stalls and according to existing regulations that have been in existence for longer than the CVA.

In Valletta, it is not possible for the vans to be right next to the stalls, but they are parked within reasonable distance. It is also reasonable that, contrary to other shops, monti hawkers do not pay the fee to enter Valletta because they need their vans for their operations.

The GRTU was consulted before the CVA system was introduced and knew that monti hawkers would not be requested to pay the fee, but said nothing against this.

The presence of the vans does not have a negative effect on the CVA system. There are around 100 such vans and they occupy only three per cent of the space for parking in Valletta. The vans were there on the days when the GRTU issued statements to praise the CVA system.

Before the CVA system was introduced, the vans used to be parked in St John’s Square and the GRTU never complained about this, the

ministry said.

It asked if the GRTU is suggesting that the CVA system be abolished and replaced with the old V-licence plate system.