“A group of Mosta residents have filed a judicial letter calling on the Planning Authority to immediately enforce against ‘unauthorised vehicular access’ to the PAMA shopping complex that has been opened in a residential road while roadworks force the closure of another entrance.”
The letter emphasizes that this access was allowed despite the lack of any permit issued by the PA. It is signed by lawyer and Gżira mayor Conrad Borg Manché on behalf of inhabitants of the Daqqaq and Ta’ Mlit communities in Mosta, the areas nearest to the allegedly temporary access from Triq il-Waqqafa.It was emphasized that the operators had, in fact, applied to the PA in 2018 (PA/256/19) for authorization to open a new entry-only vehicular access to the shopping complex from Triq il-Waqqafa, but the PA had denied their request the following year. The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal received an appeal from the developers challenging this denial, however, the case was dismissed in 2021.
The decision to refuse a permit, Borg Manché argued, “lends substantial credence to the position that such vehicular access should not be permitted, moreover in the absence of the requisite legal permits mandated by the prevailing regulations.”
He also maintained that the PA wrongly classified the works under a class of DNOs that covers “formation, laying out, alteration or improvement of roads by government agencies, local councils and other entities appointed thereby.”
“It also ran counter to the prior refusal of a development permit, which had recognised the deleterious impact of such a vehicular passage on a predominantly residential area.
Moreover, DNO regulations mandated an exhaustive appraisal that transcended immediate and temporary prerequisites, and in this case, a reassessment of the development was warranted notwithstanding its transitory nature, Borg Manché insisted.
The lawyer thus urged the PA to institute immediate enforcement action to halt the vehicular access and reinstate the boundary wall.
The residents he represented, he added, would be left with no option but to pursue further legal action if the PA does not address their concerns within 4 days.”
Well done to the residents who are speaking up and taking action, and well done to Dr. Borg Manche for defending them.
But forget about the granting of permits to better the lives of the people. We’re living in a country where the combination of government and big business working hand in hand is the order of the day, and the people are at the bottom of the heap.
Besides all the roadworks that have been going on for a long time in Mosta and its surroundings; besides all the bollards that were put in Mosta, which make you think like you are entering a labyrinthine warzone and it’s almost a maze-like thing where you can play hopscotch; besides the dust and the daily inconveniences that residents and small businesses had to face during all the work, which surely affected their health and their mental and physical wellbeing, and other inconveniences which they are still facing; besides the ugly, grey square that the Labour government endowed us with – we have the PAMA shopping village. Let us not forget that a few kilometres away, also in Mosta, we find Lidl and the newly adjacent Eurospin.
The PAMA shopping village should have never been given a permit to position itself in Mosta, and in its current location. Besides being another eyesore, it has created a lot of traffic jams on a main road that leads you from the neighbouring towns to Mosta, with two roundabouts just a few metres away from each other, on the same main road! And while you are stuck in traffic there on a daily basis, remember that you, the people, are at the bottom of the heap.
But who cares? As long as they continue to dehumanise you by keeping you in a loop of production and consumption, then it doesn’t matter. You, the people, are at the bottom of the heap.
But who cares? As long as they continue to fill their pockets with money and more money, then it doesn’t matter. You, the people, are at the bottom of the heap.
But don’t you dare grumble. In Malta, there is a lot of work, and foreigners come here because there is a lot of work [for them, not for you].
What else do you want from life, apart from living on a densely, overpopulated island thanks to multiculturalism?
What else do you want from life, apart from living on a densely populated island full of giant concrete cages and hen houses?
What else do you want from life, apart from having many shopping villages from which you can continue to be zombified into a consuming producer and a producing consumer?
And don’t you dare grumble, or else you can either choose to go to the desert or pay more taxes.
The PAMA shopping village positioning shows a lack of contingency planning between the big business boys and the highbinders.
The PAMA shopping village should have never been given a permit to position itself in Mosta in its current location. Forget about politicians improving your quality of life, which they claim they are doing by installing more Big Brother cameras. We’re living in a country where the combination of government and big business working hand in hand is the order of the day, and you are at the bottom of the heap.