Residents fume as PAMA turns road into access route
Mosta residents are furious that they were not consulted over plans to turn their residential road into a temporary access route for PAMA supermarket.
Residents living close to the supermarket said they first learned of the move earlier this month when they saw a section of wall running down the side of Triq il-Waqqafa behind PAMA supermarket being knocked down.
While they have since received assurances that it is only a four-month measure and that the wall will be closed off again afterwards, they remain opposed.
They worry the resulting traffic will lead to noise and pollution and make accessing garages on the road and others nearby a nightmare and have safety concerns about the number of cars passing through an area that is also home to a football club and a childcare centre.
Resident Carmen Farrugia questioned why PAMA seemed to be receiving special treatment from the authorities.
“It’s not a hospital or fire station, this is just a regular business. Why should we suffer? When the road in front of
Smart Supermarket was being worked on, they didn’t open a different road,” she said.
“The traffic that PAMA has created is a nightmare... they said that by opening the road on our [residential] side, they will reduce traffic on Valletta Road. But that’s not our problem.
“It’s not that we’re against PAMA, many people in the area buy from there. But we’re a residential area – it’s going to be chaos here,” she said.
But, with upcoming Infrastructure Malta roadworks due to close off one of PAMA’s existing access roads on nearby Triq Pantar and Transport
Malta signing off, the plan looks set to go ahead.
Mosta mayor Christopher Grech said he was “surprised” that neither residents nor the local council had been consulted on the move beforehand.
While he said Infrastructure Malta CEO Ivan Falzon had been in contact soon after to reassure residents and the council that there were “no hidden agendas” behind the move, Grech stressed the council was ready to support the residents.
“If the residents don’t have a problem with it, we have no objection but if they refuse, the council is with them,” he said.
Last week, officials from Transport Malta, Infrastructure Malta and PAMA signed a joint declaration stressing the works were temporary, estimated to last four months, and that the area would return to its current state afterwards.
Officials also promised to station two traffic wardens at the temporary entrance daily between 8am and 8pm.
According to the declaration, the access point on Triq il-Waqqafa will open to supermarket customers on March 27.
Attempts by Times of Malta to contact PAMA were unsuccessful.