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Ferries car park to cost €7 million
€7 million ferries car park will also include landscaping and the development of a new system of street culverts to alleviate the flooding problem in the area and wave over topping.
18 October 2012, 12:00am
James Debono
James Debono
2 min read
The Sliema Ferries car park will be partly financed from the Commuted Parking Payment Scheme a fund administrated by MEPA.
The Sliema Ferries car park project is expected to cost €7 million but no decision has yet been taken on who would be managing the new underground carpark, a spokesperson for Resources Minister George Pullicino told MaltaToday.
The Ministry spokesperson pointed out that this cost does not include the car park only, but also the landscaping and the development of a new system of street culverts to alleviate the flooding problem in the area and wave over topping.
This project will be partly financed from the Commuted Parking Payment Scheme a fund administrated by MEPA, which imposes a fee on commercial development, which creates a demand for parking.
The project will also complement the public buses interchange project by Transport Malta.
Asked whether the car park will be under public or private management, the Ministry spokesperson replied that plans for the management of this car park are still not finalized and still have to be discussed.
Moreover the car park envisaged for the Ferries will promote short stays, in a way to increase the turnover of visitors to this area. According to the Ministry the car park will create 200 spaces.
One particular difficulty faced by the project is that the Ferries are located on reclaimed land and the area is renowned for flooding problems. Asked how an underground parking is being proposed on reclaimed land the Ministry replied that it has entrusted a renowned marine engineer for this project, Joe Bugeja who has designed and constructed maritime works both locally and overseas.
On October 13, the Malta Environment Planning Authority validated the application, which it has been vetting for the past year. Plans for the project were first submitted to MEPA in November 2012.
According to the ministry's application the target date for the completion of the project is set for April 2013. This would probably mean that the project would not be completed before the next election.
The proposal will include removal of existing parking landscape areas, excavation works, construction of underground car park and an overlying landscaped deck area.
The parking lot will be located below a landscaped garden, which will be dominated by a steel superstructure feature held by steel cables mimicking a sailing ship - as well as a 20-square-metre kiosk. This will replace the existing parking and landscaped area.
The project will also include two monuments - one for the Sliema's war dead, and one for Sliema football legend Tony Nicholl.
James Debono is MaltaToday's chief reporter on environment, planning and land use issues, ...
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What would be the minimum lifespan in years of the car park (below sea level next to the shore) guaranteed by the architect and contractor? Will they also guarantee that no flooding will take place. Written and signed in black ink on the contract!
Such guarantees will provide the acid test that the project is viable. As contracting companies may go bust for other reasons, personal indemnities by directors and shareholders should also be imposed. Then we see if the project remains viable.
Priscilla Darmenia •
A car park below sea level and on reclaimed land from the sea??!! Total madness.
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Seven million euro for just 200 car spaces means 35000 euros per car space. Hofra ohra.
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My dear George,
You'll be remembered for your long term planning, coming to mind your and Austin's clockwork orange on Bisazza Street/Arriva route.
In third world countries they are so stupid unlike our well paid experts, that when they plan a project like our old karozzi tal-linja, and they know that a good number of parking spaces will be lost, they usually plan alternative parking spaces before the project starts. How stupid they are doing things this way.
George can your gherf enlighten us as to why a parking lot was not constructed beneath the refurbished Qui si Sana playgrounds. Besides being a larger area no extra underwater precautions would have been needed. But then who am I to suggest these silly things to George Bullicino. What is your favourite meal, a maqrut or a froga?
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Surely, this is not what Joseph Muscat had in mind when discussing land reclamation. But most PN "bravi" had the time of their life ridiculing this proposal. I wonder what they will say of Georgie?
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I am all in favour of protection from tidal and wind effects driving waves spilling over the road and pavement overflowing into the Sliema ferries. But a car park befraught with technical difficulties right in the middle of Sliema is nothing more than an eyesore to what could be a beautiful garden by the shore. One normally has to live with car parks and tucks them in the most unobtrusive places for they certainly do not enhance or embellish a place. Fond Ghadir or Ghar id-dud would have offered a better multi-level car park location and and thus more car spaces, less traffic congestion and serve a wider area of the Sliema front. I have a suspicion that we have a rush of ill conceived projects lacking careful planning trying to impress before the general election.
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Underground car park at the Ferries ? Pullicino should know that once digging starts , sea water will start gushing out. And the projected expense of Euro 7 million will soon be inflated to God knows how many more millions.
Just another general election carrot.
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Car park below sea level???????????
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Ghal li jista' jkun ---- jista' il-ministru gorg pullicino jghidilna jekk fil-kjosk hux se jkun hemm il-possibilita li jinbieghu l-imqaret? jista' il-ministru jgharrafna wkoll jekk fil-kjosk hux se jkun possibbli li l-klijenti jiltaqghu privatament ma' xi ministru tal-kabinett malti jew ma' xi kummissarju ewropew jew ma' barroso jew ma' min ikun qed imexxi l-OLAF dak iz-zmien? -- ghax jekk hu hekk, ikun irid jahseb ghal sistema ta' extractor biex ir-riha taz-zejt moqli tal-imqaret tohrog 'il barra mill-kjosk kif ukoll ufficini fejn ikunu jistghu jsiru laqghat privati ma' dawn l-irjus kbar bla ma jkun hemm hadd li jista' jissemma' dak li jkun qed jintqal .......
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Why created a car park in one of the most congested spots in Malta? Do you want more cars there? It would make more sense to make some serious water transport solutions. But a car park is just going to encourage more cars to flock to an already congested area.
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The car park will not create 200 new parking spaces. It will have 200 parking spaces, most of which are already there. Having said that, I do agree with the project since embellishment of the area is of utmost importance. Pity that the Ministry kept on insisting on its plans and discarded the Sliema Local Council's plans in 2010/2011.
One question that arises out of this project is who will be financing the maintenance of the whole project, which is set to be tens of thousand if not hundreds of thousands every year. The Local Council definitely does not have the resources to do so and when in 2011, Minister Pullicino was asked, he failed to provide a reply. In fact, back then, the Council had agreed on the project with the reservation that maintenance finances should be forked out by central government.
The issue arose after the inauguration of Ġnien Bonello De Puis. Where, after the Ministry hardly consulted the Council on what shape the garden should take, it sent a letter, stating that the council had to fork out tens of thousands of euro per year for the garden's maintenance. Money that is more than the annual allocation for the Council.
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That's the way Georgie!
Drive even MORE traffic to an already congested area, totally undermining and denying your good friend Gatt any chance of people using his rubbish transport system and driving away business for the local shop owners!
Stupidity 1
Government 0
Logic 0
