MTA to stop funding extra police for Paceville

The Malta Tourism Authority will this summer pay for an extra daily cleaning round of Paceville and instal vandal-proof litter bins and mobile toilets. But contrary to previous years, it will not pay for extra deployment of policemen for the area, Tourism Minister Michael Refalo told parliament yesterday.

He said that if the police felt there was need for extra policemen, and he was sure there was, such policemen should be deployed by the police without reliance on somebody else`s funding.

Dr Refalo said there was need for the police to be present in Paceville also during the daylight hours, particularly the afternoons. And there was a need for policemen to patrol the streets and not stay in particular spots only. The maintenance of law and order in Paceville was the key to peace for residents of Paceville and honest entertainment for the benefit of those who had invested in the locality and their employees.

The minister said an embellishment programme for Paceville would be taken in hand next year. Nonetheless, some works were already being done in Wilga Street. Those works, which had to be completed by the end of June, were being partly sponsored by the Planning Authority through funds from fines imposed in the area, and by the Tourism Authority.