Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1484256
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 NOVEMBER 2022 JAMES DEBONO MARK Agius – owner of the Ta' Dir- janu supermarket in Ghajnsielem and a business partner of construc- tion magnate Joseph Portelli – has presented a planning application to demolish three existing town hous- es adjacent to the supermarket. As presented, the application fore- sees three underground storeys for parking, three retail shops on the ground floor and 24 apartments on the overlying four storeys, one of which will be receded. The buildings in question date back to the second half of the twentieth century and one includes a traditional stone balcony. They are situated in an area where the predominant building height is still two or three floors, out- side the locality's urban conservation area, which is located just 40 metres away. The application does not foresee the retention of the buildings' façades and if approved as proposed will cre- ate a blank party wall on both the su- permarket and an adjacent dwelling. Agius, who is known in Gozo by the name of the supermarkets founded by his mother, Ta' Dirjanu, partners with property magnate Joseph Portel- li on various development projects in both Gozo and Malta. Ta' Dirjanu owner applies to demolish three adjacent townhouses Proposal foresees 24 apartments and three shops on site adjacent to supermarket in Ghajnsielem, 40 metres from locality's urban conservation area JAMES DEBONO 10,000 new Tal-Linja cards were issued in October as the number of bus trips by patrons who pos- sess the card which entitles its owners to free public transport increased by a staggering 36% from 2.9 million in September - before the introduction of the free bus service - to nearly 4 mil- lion in October . The latest statistics seen by MaltaToday show that the to- tal number of trips in October including those by tourists who do not have a Tal-Linja card was 16.1% higher than the total number of trips in September. This shows that, as expected, usage has mostly increased among those who own a card and are entitled to the free ser- vice. This increase in usage is part- ly attributed to the opening of schools and post secondary in- stitutions but also reflects a re- markable increase in the num- ber of people who registered for a Tal-Linja card. In fact 10,000 new Tal-Linja cards were issued in October, during the first month of the free service. Nearly 7,000 cards had already been issued in the month before the commence- ment of the free service. This suggests that the intro- duction of free public transport has attracted a new cohort of bus users who previously did not even bother to register for a card, even if it remains to be seen whether they are using the service occasionally or regularly. Despite these positive devel- opments the total number of trips in October was still 6% lower than in the correspond- ing period in 2019, which saw public transport reach record levels in a year during which a record number of tourists had visiting Malta. But this rep- resents an improvement over figures for the first week of the free service when trips were 9% less then in 2019. The rate of usage represents a sharp improvement over Sep- tember, when passenger trips were 24% lower than the same month in 2019. Statistics seem to confirm predictions made by the au- thorities before the introduc- tion of the service, with expec- tations being that by the end of 2022 the number of passengers will rise back to 2019 figures when public transport usage had reached record levels. If this aim is achieved by the end of 2022, it would reverse a sharp decline in usage during the pandemic which has also conditioned public attitudes towards public transportation. A Eurobarometer survey con- ducted in April 2021 revealed that 42% of Maltese respond- ents will be using public trans- port less than they did before the onset of the pandemic. Only 27% of all respondents in the 27 EU member states gave a similar response. Significant- ly 34% of Maltese replied that they will be "much less likely" to use public transport com- pared to 16% of respondents in all member states. Among all EU member states only the Hungarians were less inclined to use public transport than the Maltese. Trips among Tal-linja card users increase by a million 10,000 new Tal- Linja cards issued in October as number of trips now stands at just 6% less than in 2019