Updated 12pm with restaurant owner's reaction
A councillor and a restaurant owner filed a police report after both claimed they were assaulted by the other on Friday.
Marsaxlokk local councillor Daniel Zerafa said he filed the report after he was assaulted by the owners of Ir-Rizzu Restaurant when he tried to stop him from setting up tables and chairs instead of his market stall.
An argument ensued and the owner allegedly pushed Zerafa, who is a market hawker.
“I held on to a nearby umbrella not to lose balance when someone else punched me in the head from the back. I lost consciousness. Next, I woke up sitting on a chair. My brother, who intervened to help me, was injured too. Police and medics, who were in the area because of the tsunami emergency evacuation drill arrived immediately,” he said.
But restaurant owner George Abela denied the claims and said it was Zerafa who started the fight by swearing at him to remove tables and chairs and then hitting him in the face with an umbrella, dislodging one of his teeth.
He also filed a police report, he said, adding he had witnesses to prove his version.
Abela said his restaurant was among six situated near the market. Because of this they could not set up tables and chairs outside unlike other restaurants on the promenade.
“Yesterday, because of the tsunami drill, the market was not set up. So I thought that, just for one day, we could set up outside. But when I did, Zerafa came and started swearing. He threatened to throw an umbrella in the sea. Then he pulled it out and hit me in the face. That was when the fight ensued,” he said.
The incident happened at about 1pm, soon after the emergency drill organised in Marsaxlokk on Friday morning. Zerafa, who is also a market hawker and sets up his souvenir stall daily at the Marsaxlokk market, told Times of Malta that he had enough of the authorities closing an eye to the illegalities going on at the Marsaxlokk waterfront where restaurants are illegally encroaching on the promenade.
“This situation has been going on for about 10 years and it has to stop. This really is impunity… This is what happens when the authorities allow illegalities to go on for years: others expect to be allowed to do the same,” Zerafa told Times of Malta when contacted.
In a Facebook post, Zerafa blamed the "blatant egoism" and lack of enforcement and apathy of the Malta Tourism Authority, Land Authority, health and even from OPM (Office of the Prime Minister), adding that the council had been asked to close an eye to the illegal encroachment.
He explained that, at the moment, the restaurants that set up their tables and chairs along the seaside have a planning permit but do not have a permit from the MTA to serve food across the road from their establishment.
Many restaurants ignored this and still forged ahead to set up and serve food. However, some restaurants situated near the market have not been able to set up outside due to the market. This is a situation that has been dragging on for years.
Some weeks ago, he said, the council intervened after Ir-Rizzu restaurant drilled umbrella holes in the area of the market. The restaurant initially cooperated but on Friday when Zerafa went to set up his stall after a tsunami emergency evacuation drill, he saw the restaurant staff setting up tables and chairs. He told them they were not allowed to do so and that was when the alleged assault happened.
MHRA chief executive Andrew Agius Muscat condemned any form of violence and said a solution had to be found to address this situation that had been dragging on for years.
“Surveys keep showing that people like to dine outside. Marsaxlokk is a beautiful tourist destination and you cannot have it taken up by market stalls. There has to be a compromise,” he said.