Mosta residents are divided on whether Mosta Square should remain closed to weekend traffic, but the business community appears to be practically unanimous that it should be reopened. The square started being closed off on Saturday evenings and Sundays earlier this year, with traffic diverted away from the centre. But earlier this month, the new mayor, Joseph Gatt, said that the partial pedestrianisation of the square was being reconsidered due to a string of complaints from residents and businesses in the area.
Residents complained of heavy traffic along the alternative routes, and businesses said customers were staying away. The mayor before the council late on Monday suggesting that the partial pedestrianisation stops from the first weekend of September. Transport Minister has since thrown his weight behind keeping the square pedestrianised on weekends.
spoke with Mosta residents and business operators to understand how the square’s pedestrianisation affects them. Several business owners declined to answer on video because they felt uncomfortable discussing what they viewed as a political issue. Andreas Kuemmert, a German expat and father of a two-year-old, has been a Mosta resident for seven years.
He believes the pedestrianisation of the square was “the best thing to happen to Mosta”. Kuemmert said the square should be pedestrianised 24/7 to enable tourists to appreciate the Mosta Dome without the distraction of traffic. Eighty-one-year-old Maria, a long-term Mosta.