MDA ‘always worried’ expenditure on infrastructure is not rising enough – Michael Stivala

The Malta Developers Association is “always worried” that expenditure on infrastructure is not rising enough, President of association Michael Stivala says

The country has seen a development boom, but in heavily urbanised areas like Sliema, St Julian’s and Sliema, there are severe infrastructural problems, especially for traffic and parking.

Asked whether he believes this was due to bad planning, he said the issue is more about infrastructural investment.

“Let’s say construction increased, in parallel the Government has the responsibility to improve infrastructure – improve pavements, roads, public transport – and we need to continue lobbying for the government to continue investing in infrastructure.”

“It is pointless to increase construction if you don’t take care of the infrastructure. There have been large investments, let’s not forget the Government invested around €700 million in roads, millions were invested in the electricity and drainage systems, but more is needed.”

He said that with the strength of their sector the economy is growing, adding that this growth needs to also be reflected in infrastructural investment.

Told that one is limited in terms of what infrastructural investment can be made in the aforementioned localities, given that the roads are only so wide, he was asked whether the Sliema, St Julian’s and Gżira areas have reached their limit in terms of development.

“I don’t believe you need to widen the roads. You can’t even do that in Sliema, Gżira and St Julian’s. But we need to use spaces better.”

Here, Mr Stivala mentioned creating public parking lots, and highlighted the Government’s recent call inviting commercial outlets to make their existing car park facilities available for use by the general public outside normal business hours. He described it as a very good initiative.

Told that this won’t solve the traffic problem, he said that perhaps as a result of this initiative, certain parking spaces can be removed from roads. “Imagine if parking lots are made available for the public there would be no need to park in the street, and the existing roads can be used better.”

He said that there are many parking lots forming part of large projects which, at night, are barely used. There are parks where they can also be built, he said, mentioning that the government had issued a call for preliminary market research for parking near the Strand Sliema.

“That is where we have to work,” where beneath certain squares, parking lots can be built, he said.

He said that better public transport is also needed.

People need to move from one place to another not only by using their cars, he says, adding that people need an alternative. “You cannot blame people for using cars today. If public transport is not serving the people well, they would not have an alternative.”

The MDA believes in the idea of mass transport, “using trams for example,” and believes it is a doable project, he says. “They were introduced in busier cities abroad, but you need to have a long-term vision and implement it.”

The MDA will continue pushing for more investment in this regard, he adds. “When I hear that certain investments are too costly, I don’t agree.”

He said that there are thousands of people getting stuck in traffic for long periods of times, which he argues needs to be calculated as a loss for the economy.

“Both a loss because they could be working, or a loss of their free time which they could use on things they would enjoy instead. Traffic has a negative impact on the economy. We need this large investment as it makes sense for the country.”

A document published by the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works in 2025 had found that private cars account for around 84 per cent of road traffic and that by 2030, the economic cost of traffic congestion is projected to reach €917 million per year unless effective measures are put in place.

The mass transport proposal by the Government for the creation of a light rail system excluded the Sliema and St Julian’s area as being part of the first line.

Questioned as to whether he believes this is a mistake, the MDA President said that with such proposals, a plan for all of Malta is first needed, following which priorities are given.

“The priorities need to be studied well. They mention the line running from St Paul’s Bay to the airport. Obviously not everything can be done at once. The government needs to see where the biggest problems are and start line by line. You cannot stop all of Malta because you are building a mass transport network. I cannot say which area would be better to start from, these are issues for studies. It needs to be seriously studied.”