Sta Venera pavement

Stephen Sultana, the mayor of Santa Venera, tells us that the missing pavement on Braille Street is no longer a priority since he took over in March. This smacks of bad politics rather than responsible mayorship.

I remind him that the existing, incomplete pavement was done up 11 years ago. Since then, traffic on Braille Street has increased beyond comparison, which makes the missing stretch of pavement extremely dangerous to its pedestrians.

Mayor Sultana lets us know that the National Commission for Persons with Disability (NCPD) says that a pavement needs to be at least 1.2 metres wide.

This he quotes to absolve himself from completing the missing part of the pavement. The fact that there is no space for a wheelchair-friendly pavement of 120 centimetres, does not mean there cannot be a narrower pedestrian-friendly pavement of, say, 80 centimetres.

The 1.2 metre guideline of the NCPD holds for streets wide enough to take them but not for narrower streets. I suggest he contacts the NCPD for their opinion. That's what would be called prudent, healthy and responsible mayorship.

In the absence of this, the NCPD should guide the council in this matter because the mayor is blaming the commission for his decision not to complete the dangerously missing part of the pavement.

According to Mayor Sultana's explicitly declared managerial "principles", the economy and parking spaces in Sta Venera take precedence over lives and limbs.

Suppose someone gets seriously injured or killed on Braille Street? I commend Mr Sultana's honesty in declaring his line of reasoning. But at the same time I strongly oppose him for using it. Suppose, as a consequence of his decision, the council gets sued? What then? Must we suffer this to see a 40- metre-long concrete pavement completed?

I appeal to the mayor and his councillors to learn to think along healthier lines than they have done thus far. Then perhaps The Times might be tempted to show a photo of Mayor Sultana and myself shaking hands on the completed pavement of Braille Street.