Sliema residents push PN-led council to back carrying capacity motion
Residents say they are surprised council has said it has no money for the plan
An association of Sliema residents has expressed dismay at the town’s Nationalist-led council shooting down requests for a carrying capacity study – even as the PN has pledged to instruct its councillors in all localities to demand one.
The Sliema Residents Association said that it was surprised to hear the town’s deputy mayor Anton Debono say that the council cannot afford such a study, because its €1 million in working capital is allocated to other projects.
Calls for a carrying capacity study for Sliema – first made by Astrid Vella of Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar in 2023 - are being endorsed by Labour councillor Ryan Borg, who intends to present a motion calling for such a study at a council meeting scheduled for May 29.
The situation in Sliema is a somewhat curious opposite to that in most other towns and villages. The Nationalist Party’s central leadership said on Tuesday that it would be instructing its councillors to request carrying capacity studies for each locality across the country.
PN leader Bernard Grech argued that such studies were essential to be able to plan sustainably.
“We believe things must be done through planning. And in order to plan effectively, you first need to understand the needs, not act blindly,” he said.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Sliema Residents Association said it was glad to see such studies being given additional importance.
Sliema’s population doubled from 13,000 in 2011 to 24,000 in 2024 and is believed to double again during peak tourism months in summer. There are more than 700 registered tourist units and 1,400 Airbnbs listed in the town.
In 2023, Times of Malta calculated that the town is almost as densely populated as Paris when tourists are excluded from calculations.
The Sliema Residents Association said that the town’s infrastructure was straining, with power cuts, traffic jams and sewage overflows into the sea.
“It is only once Sliema’s actual carrying capacity is established that one can introduce vital mitigating measures to ensure a decent quality of life. This would include urban planning and sustainable development practices, regulating construction, improving infrastructure, cleanliness and garbage collection while managing tourism, in order to help restore some balance and relieve residents of the long list of civic inconveniences.”
The association urged the town’s councillors to back the upcoming motion for a carrying capacity study.