A post on Facebook this morning sparked quite the reaction among University of Malta staff and students. In recent months, much of car park 6 was closed due to works, and the sports ground was opened as a temporary car park (which also sparked a divide, but that’s a whole other story).

So when this notice went up on the University of Malta Facebook page earlier today, it left University-goers pretty stunned, to say the least. “In an effort to alleviate some of the current issues related to parking space on campus, as from next week, UM will be implementing new parking procedures,” it said.

According to the post, parking on campus would be restricted to specific vehicle registration plates as follows:

1. Mondays and Thursday: A-M

2. Tuesdays and Fridays: N-Z

3. Wednesdays: no parking restrictions

“It is hoped that this initiative will encourage carpooling and use of alternative methods of travelling to and from the campus,” they said. “Vehicles caught parked outside their assigned registration day will be subject to clamping and towing."

This, as expected, raked in quite a number of comments. “April fools jew bis-serjeta? Asking for a friend,” wrote one user, while another one said, “Everyone just needs to take a chill pill.” 

Just now though, the University answered many a student's prayer, and confirmed that it was in fact an April Fools’ joke all along. Damn, that was harsh. One girl threw out the ultimate shade by commenting, “You had time to plan a joke but not give me my results?” Girrrl.

Speaking to a number of University students about their thoughts on the prank, I got some pretty hilarious reactions. One friend told me, “Well, I got a bit of a fright!” Me too, girl – and I’m not even a student! Another said, “Are these guys for real?! – that was my first reaction. According to those regulations, I cannot park when I actually have lectures, and when I don’t have lectures I can’t get close to Uni!”

When asked whether it would have worked as an initiative, mixed reactions rolled in. One University student told me that she agrees with “everything that reduces car usage so it’s actually not a bad idea.” Another said, "While it would have worked from an environmental perspective, from literally every other perspective it wouldn't have worked."

Nice one guys!