The government has branded itself as the government that listens (Gvern li jisma). It often jars with the Labour Party's pre-election pledge of Malta belonging to all of us (Malta taghna lkoll), the reason being that the government found more iced buns in its pantry than Malta has ever seen and that jobs were only dished out for the boys.

But there have been times where the government has actually listened. And the whole monti debacle is another instance where the government needs to take a step back and listen to what people are saying.

The government has shown signs of changing tack, the first being the scrapping of the horrendous stalls which were going to blight the Capital City's entrance. But the chorus of discontent about the plans to place the stalls (whatever they will eventually look like) in Ordnance Street between the new parliament building and the Teatru Rjal, has now reached deafening proportions.

Most people have expressed their utter dismay that locals and tourists alike will be greeted with the site of fluorescent knickers and football shirts as soon as they enter the capital. And as much as popular public opinion is of value, the government cannot continue to ignore the sheer volume of criticism that it is receiving about the issue from one organisation after another. The latest to do so was Din l-Art Helwa which said that the whole issue has been turned into a political tug of war.

The saying goes that people in glass houses should not throw stones, and this is one that the Nationalist Party ought to remember. The PN has urged the government to reconsider its plans, and while its leader can justify his stance by saying that he was not part of the previous administration, he must also remember that the PN made similar commitments to relocate the market to its planned position.

Valletta is set to become European City of Culture in 2018 and it would be a veritable crime if the hawkers were allowed to set up their wares in the current proposed position. Nobody wants them there, not the V18 Commission, not the general public and certainly not our heritage organisations.

This is one instance where the government needs to take swift and decisive action to find an alternative solution to a problem which will not go away. Valletta is Malta's capital city and its majestic new entrance should be honoured through culture, and not a shoddy market.