The Ombudsman on Thursday renewed an appeal to regularise outside catering areas, following an incident in which an ambulance struggled to squeeze by tables and chairs on Valletta roads.
It also urged the authorities to confiscate tables and chairs and impose fines on those who breached their permit, adding that Merchants Street looked like a caravan site.
On Tuesday, independent party Residenti Beltin uploaded footage of an ambulance squeezing past tables and chairs, reigniting a debate about the taking up of public space by restaurants and cafes.
Residents and visitors of the capital often flag the chaotic situation of tables and chairs on Valletta streets. Last year, tables and chairs on Merchants Street triggered a judicial protest by the University of Malta against the Valletta local council.
Police have even called for a review of licensing conditions that allow catering establishments to encroach on public space to avoid a repeat of last Easter’s disruption of religious processions.
The Ombudsman's Office itself last year took to parliament to demand proper rules and procedures for outdoor catering areas.
The office handed MPs its recommendations following an investigation sparked by a complaint about how establishments constantly encroached on public roads and pavements, without any form of permanent markings to ensure they remained within pre-set boundaries.
On Thursday the Ombudsman lamented that photos of the ambulance navigating Valletta streets had revived "unpleasant memories of instances" when its recommendations had been "shelved and neglected".
"This image represents merely a fraction of the issues caused by outside catering areas, or more accurately, the absence of their regulation," the office said.
"Residents endure inconvenience and visual blight, particularly when Merchants Street resembles a caravan site with patrons enclosed in plastic structures."
The Ombudsman’s Office said it had put forward multiple suggestions about the permit process, the execution of projects with proper on-site demarcations to assist enforcement, and the immediate confiscation of tables and imposition of fines.
It said it hoped the authorities took action before any other incidents similar to that of Tuesday's.
The issue of tables and chairs is not limited to the capital.
The Marsascala local council last year asked the Lands Authority to demarcate areas where restaurants and cafes can take out their tables and chairs. It also urged the authorities to act on illegalities.
The locality's residents claim businesses are taking pavements away from pedestrians, often illegally, making it difficult to navigate sidewalks, especially for those with pushchairs or mobility issues.
They fear Marsascala will suffer the same fate as other localities such as Sliema and Marsaxlokk, which have lost stretches of public promenade to businesses.
In Sliema and St Juliuan's alone, some 58 encroachment concessions have been handed out since 2020.
The situation is so frustrating for residents, that a Sliema local took the unusual step of applying for permission to take up public land herself.