Tourist on-the-spot fines are too low, minister says, vowing review
The statement from Minister Glenn Bedingfield comes following calls for harsher fines from the hotels lobby
Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield says he wants to increase new on-the-spot fines for antisocial behaviour after acknowledging that the current penalties are too low to deter disruptive tourists.
Last week 12 bottle-throwing young people were fined €2,000 in on-the-spot fines, equating to around €166 each.
The Malta Hoteliers and Restaurateurs Association said they were too low to act as an effective deterrent.
In a video statement on social media, Bedingfield, said he agreed.
“I have read statements from the MHRA on how low certain fines are for certain contraventions. I think they are right with what they are saying. I will be looking at them because I believe fines should reflect the damages that residents are suffering,” Beddingfield.
He also said that, for the first time in two months, there were no reports from Swieqi residents of anti-social behaviour.
"Encouraging, but we must keep working hard to ensure this progress continues," he said, thanking community police for their work.
The government recently introduced on-the-spot fines for non-residents. It came amid growing concerns about antisocial behaviour by tourists – particularly in nightlife hotspots such as Sliema, Paceville and Swieqi.
Still, several episodes were reported in recent days.
On Monday, police fined 12 people after footage showed youths jeering and throwing cans, bottles and liquid into the street below.
Earlier this month, residents of a St Julian’s apartment block told how they feared for their lives when a group of youths speaking Italian broke into their block and started smashing in doors in the early hours of Monday morning.
The first on-the-spot fine was €150, handed to a tourist for littering.
Among the specific contraventions tourists may be fined for are running without caution onto a street, being drunk beyond the ability of taking care of oneself, littering, threatening to throw stones or throwing stones at a person without causing injury and throwing dirt or ‘filth’ at the door or against the wall of the house of any other person.
Smoking next to a playground or an enclosed space can also land tourists on-the-spot fines.
The level of fine depends on the offence. The law says the amount payable for the on-the-spot fines depends on what is prescribed in the law for the offence.
If a particular contravention has a range of how much the fine could be, police will charge the minimum.