'A drunk man defecated on our doorstep, but police were too busy to help'

A Birżebbuġa resident has slammed the police for failing to act after a man was caught on CCTV defecating and urinating in the entrance to his apartment block on Saturday morning.

Footage of the incident shared to social media shows the man walking into the entrance of a residential block before pulling down his trousers and underwear and defecating in a corner to the left of the front door.

The man can then be seen standing and urinating in the same area. Human mess is visible on the floor as the man exits the entrance.

In a Facebook post accompanying the video, the resident said he “wished that the Malta Police Force would employ more people, because we wanted their help”.

Despite giving chase and catching up with the man at least two times, residents were unable to summon police assistance.

“The officers at the Birżebbuġa police station told us they were tied up in court; the community police told us they were tied up at an event and had no means of transport ... this man was not even fined for having soiled the area behind our door”.

The resident described the man as “extremely drunk” and “harassing people” as pedestrians – including families with children – passed by.

While a clock visible in the footage indicates that the incident took place shortly after 7am, the incident occurred just after 9am, he said.

“For Malta not to be regarded as a third-world country, certain standards must exist as a minimum ... These acts of foolishness have no place here.”

Speaking to Times of Malta, the resident, who requested not to be named, said he realised what happened when he returned to the apartment block that morning to find a “total mess” in the entrance.

After checking the CCTV footage and speaking with neighbours, the resident, accompanied by others from the block, found the man arguing with a shopkeeper at a nearby premises.

They caught up with the man, who ran away three times, eventually convincing him to return to the block and clean up the mess using his t-shirt, the resident said. The man subsequently fled the scene after refusing to clean the area properly with cleaning solution.

Recent years have seen residents in various localities forced to deal with rising levels of antisocial behaviour, often linked to tourists. It is unclear whether the man in the Birżebbuġa footage is a tourist or a resident of Malta.

On Friday, 12 naked men were captured on film sitting on a ledge outside while waving at passing traffic.

And areas such as Swieqi and St Julian’s have long been on the front lines of Malta’s burgeoning youth travel market and short-let accommodation offerings, with residents frequently complaining of littering and loutish behaviour.