Five per cent of calls to Civil Protection are hoax

Civil Protection Department personnel have since the beginning of last year been called out on 367 hoax calls, statistics obtained by The Times show.

In fact, malicious bogus calls, most of which are fire-related, amount to five per cent of all calls for assistance made to the department

CPD head Peter Cordina said it was high time for the public to realise the waste of time and resources associated with such calls, not to mention more serious repercussions.

A total of 243 false alarm calls were made to the department last year, practically double the number of hoax calls in 2000.

The department takes no chances and responds to every call made, even if there is doubt about its credibility.

The CPD boasts a staff complement of 105, based in five stations - Hal Far, Floriana, Xemxija, Corradino and Gozo.

"People don't realise that a fire engine called out on a prank call may not be available for a serious rescue at the same time," Mr Cordina said. "One must also consider the danger faced by fire-fighters who drive at speed through traffic."

Most prank calls are understood to emanate from children and the culprits are generally in their teens.

Hoax calls are punishable under the laws of Malta. A man who falsely claimed there was a bomb at the airport was last year jailed for nine months and fined Lm100.

Mr Cordina said that thanks to the new emergency number - 112 - which covers all accident and emergency departments, it was now possible to retrace callers.

The CPD received over 5,000 calls for assistance last year, with another 2,559 so far this year.

If statistics are anything to go by, then a good number of vehicles require a good service. The CPD was called out 1,431 times last year to tend to oil spills from vehicles with another 658 so far this year.

The traffic chaos is reflected in the number of assistance calls the department receives for vehicle accidents - 182 since the beginning of 2002.

The majority of other incidents were fire-related. Firemen put out 638 tree and grass fires last year and another 338 this year. As expected, most of these cases were reported during the summer months, thanks to the scorching sun, though the CPD believes that a number are sparked off by children.

The same goes for rubbish and skips. The CPD was called out 888 times to douse such fires since the beginning of 2002.

The department rescued a total of 53 persons in 2002 and another 22 so far this year.

Of interest is the fact that the CPD was called to assist individuals who found themselves in some kind of difficulty in their residences practically every day last month.

Considering that Malta is one of the driest countries in Europe, it comes as a surprise that floods necessitated the intervention of the department 178 times since the beginning of last year.