Residents fume as truck damages stepped street

Residents in stepped St Ursula Street, Valletta are livid about the damage being caused to the stairs by a truck, carrying construction material, that has been driving up and down the steps for the past two weeks.

They are calling on the authorities to put a stop to the "discriminatory permission to destroy heritage" and said it was unfair that they had not had the possibility to facilitate their own construction works.

The residents claimed it was normally against the law to drive on the steps and that anyone breaking it was immediately fined.

Other workmen, operating in the street, have always either carried their construction materials themselves or transported them by means of a cart, the residents said, adding that even the bakery in St Ursula Street transports its equipment manually on a daily basis.

A bollard has been removed and replaced by a rusty, lopsided pipe and the hole crudely filled with cement to allow access onto the street.

Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier explained that a permit to carry out works on a dangerous structure was issued by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The local council only granted permission to drive on the steps after a year's reluctance - when the Valletta Rehabilitation Project showed no written objection after accepting a deposit of Lm500 from the developer as a guarantee, the mayor said.

"The council even went one step further and, subsequent to the VRP's no objection, obliged the contractor to submit a photographic survey of the steps prior to the commencement of the works as well as a written declaration that the contractor would assume full responsibility to repair any damaged paving on completion."

VRP executive coordinator Ray Bondin said yesterday the local council has been advised to stop the contractor from carrying out works so the damage to the steps could be assessed by a technical officer.

But, to date, the council has received no appeal from the VRP, Dr Borg Olivier said.

"The council only issued the permit after the VRP's approval," he reiterated. The residents said they had voiced their complaints in an attempt to safeguard the city's heritage but they claimed these had, so far, fallen on deaf ears under the pretext that a permit had been issued to drive on the steps and a deposit paid in case of damage.

They said that a deposit should not be a green light to destroy Malta's heritage.

The steps were already in a bad state, the residents maintained, annoyed that a project was being "privileged" to the developer's convenience and to the detriment of the street.