Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1507818
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWS church.mt EXPRESSION OF INTEREST INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VACANT SITE IN SIĠĠIEWI The Administrative Secretary of the Archdiocese of Malta will receive proposals for the development of suitable premises, comprising a parish centre as well as residential and commercial units, at a vacant site located within a development zone at Mgr Mikiel Azzopardi Street, corner with Nikola Saura Street, Siġġiewi. Plans submitted for the development must be appropriate and comply with planning regulations. Interested parties may submit requests for further information by sending an email to siggiewi.eoi@maltadiocese.org by not later than noon on Wednesday, 18 th October 2023. Submissions should be made in person at the Archbishop's Curia, St Calcedonius Square, Floriana FRN 1535, Malta, Mondays to Fridays between 09:00 and 17:00, in a sealed envelope clearly marked 'Siġġiewi Proposal', by not later than noon on Wednesday, 25 th October 2023. An appropriate box will be provided for this purpose. Only offers received through this box will be considered. The bidders will be informed in writing in due course whether their bid was selected or not. The right is reserved to refuse any proposal, even the most financially advantageous one. LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 A number of emails seen by this newspaper confirm that TM, as well as the police have known about public parking spaces being occupied by Y-plate vehicles for months. But complaints and re- ports fell on deaf ears. In Mosta, MaltaToday has learned that a cab company named D&Co Garage had been illegally parking at least four ve- hicles in residential parking spots, causing headaches for residents. Despite numerous reports over a number of months to the police, the Mosta local council, as well as TM, the illegality persisted. A similar situation in Pietà, next to the PBS building, is also infuriating residents, as a public car park has become the regular parking spot for a large number of Y-plate vehicles. This newspaper is informed that police were al- ready made aware of this situation in April 2023, and since then, the problem has only intensified. One resident had been told by the police they "no longer issue contraventions to Y-Plate vehicles but rather the complainant should be passed on to TM." Despite this, when the issue was reported to TM in May, the agency had re- plied that they had forwarded the complaint to the relevant depart- ment, and yet the illegalities per- sisted. After numerous reports, TM stopped replying to emails sent regarding complaints in the area, and when this newspaper recently visited the area, at least 15 Y-plate vehicles were found to be illegally parked. In San Ġwann, TM were also in- formed of Y-plate vehicles parked in resident parking spaces since last July. Despite repeated reports, TM had never even acknowledged the complaints, and the vehicles remained parked. 'Industry is a lawless jungle' Meanwhile, MaltaToday also spoke to a number of Y-plate own- ers who feel cheated by TM due to the fact that other drivers in the industry are allowed to do as they please, while they pay thousands in order to operate legally. One driver who wished to re- main anonymous stated that the only time he had TM officials in- specting his garage was when he applied to register a vintage ve- hicle. "Other than that," he said, "they've never checked whether or not I even have a garage for my Y-plate vehicle." Another driver who has been in the industry for years expressed his frustration due to the fact that "the industry has become a lawless jungle." He stated that while TM had never enforced its own regula- tions regarding garage ownership, "the cab industry has become too saturated (mifqugħa) by careless drivers and fleet owners." The driver lamented the fact that nowadays, he has to compete with law-breakers while he paid thousands of euros to purchase a garage in order to operate legally. "I don't know how they're going to solve this problem" - Andre Pizzuto And to add to the confusion, Kamra tal-Periti President An- dre Pizzuto highlighted an over- looked irregularity within the industry regarding a driver's ob- ligation to garage their vehicles when not in use – it is illegal to store commercial vehicles in res- idential garages. Pizzuto lamented the indiffer- ence being shown by TM regard- ing his organisation's requests to discuss problems within the latest Y-plate regulations. Last July, the Transport Minis- try toughened the rules regulating the cab-hailing industry following several controversies. Among the changes, Y-plate owners are now required to annually present the site plan of the garage where they are obliged to park their vehicles when not in use. "First of all there was no consul- tation with us regarding the new law," Pizzuto said. He further ex- plained that despite the practise is being done, "it is illegal to store commercial vehicles in residential Transport Malta failed to act on illegally-parked Perit Andre Pizzuto