Freedom Square to be closed off for City Gate works on April 1

Freedom Square will be closed to the public on April 1 for the commencement of work on the City Gate project, Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi said today.

He said that as a result, talks on the relocation of shops in the affected area - including the opera house ruins - have to be completed within days so that the properties may be vacated by March 27.

Dr Azzopardi said the talks were making good progress - with the government offering alternative premises at the City Gate shopping complex (above Burger King) and in governemnt properties in Merchants, Melita and Old Bakery Streets.

Some of the current tenants, however, were considering financial compensation.

Dr Azzopardi said the shops below St James Cavalier would be the first to be demolished as the project works picked up.

The parliamentary secretary made his comments in reply to questions during a press conference to review the work of his office in the second year of the legislature.

He said the past year had been a record one for law enforcement, with his office coordinating 424 enforcement actions, which ranged from encroachment by restaurants onto pavements, to the eviction of squatters in public properties.

Such actions, he said, would continue, and he welcomed public cooperation in the reporting of abuse. A freephone service introduced last year has so far attracted 1,400 reports from the public.

Dr Azzopardi said the government had over the past year paid €100 million in compensation to the owners of expropriated properties, but another €50 million remain due.

He also pointed to increased efficiency at the Lands Department, where a project to digitise all records was launched a few weeks ago.