12 fined and holiday apartments shut after Swieqi chaos

Police have fined 12 people and the tourism authority has shut down holiday accommodation after disorder in Swieqi on Sunday night that saw young people shouting and throwing drink containers into the street below. 

Footage of the incident showed youths jeering and throwing cans, bottles and liquid into the street below. A resident said the situation had gotten “so much worse” this year with the completion of new short-let accommodation blocks.

In a statement on Monday afternoon, the police said the 12 paid a total of around €2,000 in on-the-spot fines when police returned to the area after first attending the scene the night of the incident.

The young people were fined for breaching public order and the public peace and illegal waste disposal, the police said. They said 17 on-the-spot fines were issued over the weekend in total across Malta as part of efforts to “maintain public order” and ensure regulators are in line with regulations.

The police were joined by Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) officials, who inspected the property and found that “eight of the block's nine apartments were operating in breach of their licence conditions”, the statement read.

Tourists staying in the affected apartments were relocated to alternative accommodation, and the MTA served an enforcement notice on the owner ordering the “immediate closure of the entire block”. The building will remain closed until the operator complies with regulations.

The MTA said it “remains committed to identifying properties operating without the necessary licenses and ensuring that licensed accommodation providers operate in accordance with the applicable legal and regulatory obligations”.

It said it would take “appropriate enforcement action where breaches are identified” as part of efforts to safeguard the interests of visitors, residents and the integrity of the tourism sector.

In a Facebook post discussing the fines on Monday afternoon, Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield said authorities “must be firm with those who fail to respect public order. The police took timely action, and this is how we must continue to act”.

“The rules apply to everyone. Respect for the community and the law is non-negotiable," he said.

Police told Times of Malta earlier on Monday officers arrived “within minutes” of being called to the disturbance on Triq S .Cannataci last night. The police wanted to “send a strong message that antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated,” a spokesperson said.

One resident said that while antisocial behaviour had continued over the years, things were “so much worse this year” with the completion of the new apartment blocks housing the youths shown in the video.

The blocks were being used by “hundreds” of young people, he said. “It’s only young tourists coming to party, living by their own rules,” he said, adding that his girlfriend was now too shared to walk in the street at night.

The rules apply to everyone- Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield

Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat wrote to the prime minister following Sunday’s incident, stressing that, “Year in, year out, matters are getting worse ... We have been reporting these problems for 10 years! I suppose that enough is enough”.

In an email shared earlier today, he expressed his hope that “meaningful measures” be taken following the recent incident are taken”.

Muscat has previously called for a moratorium on permits for short-let properties, regular police patrols at night and on-the-spot fines in an effort to tackle the issue.