Residents of Valletta’s St Dominic Street are grappling with a grim reality: vomit on doorsteps, urine on front doors  and even faeces left in the street. 

They blame the nightly chaos on drunken revelry that disrupts their lives and robs them of sleep in the early hours.

“The situation is not pleasant at all,” one resident said. More bluntly, another resident said, “we entered hell without knowing that we were in it”.

Broken glass on a resident’s door.

The street is located at the end of Strait Street. A number of elderly people live in the street that happens to find itself close to the hub of Valletta’s nightlife.

Valletta residents have repeatedly complained about loud music being played until 1am. The problem is now that once the bars close at 1am, partygoers from bars around the corner spill out onto their street and cause chaos.

Residents said they have spotted people sitting on their cars, leaving cans and bottles on parked cars and urinating in the street.

Multiple people mentioned how they would wake up in the morning and find vomit on their doorsteps, or urine on their front door.One resident reported discovering human faeces on the street, left over from the previous night.

We entered hell without knowing that we were in it

Someone else said he looked down from his balcony and saw people snorting cocaine on the streets.

“We have become like Paceville… but this is a residential area.”

Another resident said he recently stepped outside his house in the morning to find a small glass pane on his door cracked. 

Residents shared their frustration about the difficulty of sleeping during the early hours of the morning despite a sign at the end of Strait Street on the corner of St Dominic Street that says: ‘Low voices & cleanliness reflect civic sense. Be considerate!’

To keep the noise out, one resident tried to soundproof his bedroom by installing an aluminium door with triple-glazed glass on his balcony. Different residents said they had reported all the cases to police and the local council on different occasions, but the mayhem persists.

All residents said they had never seen the Valletta stewards, who were supposed to ensure order.

A sign telling people to quieten down at the end of Strait Street on the corner with St Dominic Street.

Earlier this year, uniformed stewards began patrolling the streets of the capital city tasked with ensuring things are in order and reporting to the authorities where necessary. The stewards’ role is not to enforce the law, but to report people who might be causing a disturbance.

One resident expressed his frustration over the fact nobody seems to take responsibility for trying to keep the noise in check. 

Valletta mayor Olaf McKay told Times of Malta that the council has been reporting these cases, along with many other cases all over the capital to disciplined forces and the police.

McKay explained there are only four stewards to oversee the whole capital: two working mornings and two working nights.

“The staff is what it is… they are not enough. But at least this is a start,” McKay said, hinting at plans to increase the number of stewards in the street.