Local councils are facing problems and challenges that have been created by the central government’s poor governance and lack of direction.

The locality that I hail from, Swieqi, is facing numerous problems that we cannot handle and which the central government has no idea how to solve.

The steep increase in the population, both residential as well as touristic, is causing daily problems that are frustrating and exasperating residents. Here are some examples.

Garbage

In February 2016, we had informed the then-minister of tourism that short-let apartments were the cause of our garbage problem. We had even proposed solutions.

Absolutely nothing was done to solve the problem when it was still in its infancy.

Eight and a half years later, short-let apartments have mushroomed and the garbage problem has now become a crisis.

I report the problem areas every day to ERA, MTA, the police and LESA but they seem unable to solve the problem as they say they lack the necessary human resources.

I am informed that ERA have 30 officials to cope with the whole of Malta. We need all these officials in our locality alone.

Security

The increase in population brings about a security issue.

It is true that during recent years we were provided with the service of the community police and this helped to improve matters during the daytime.

However, community police are not present at night and that is when all the problems in the locality arise, with noisy disturbances in various areas of the locality and vandalism. Residents do not feel safe and at peace in their home anymore.

We have asked the commissioner of police to reopen the police station at night but our request was not even acknowledged.

Overdevelopment 

Overdevelopment is another daily frustration.

The work ethics that are applied by certain developers leave much to be desired and we continually report shortcomings to the BCA.

The most common sound in Swieqi is that of excavators digging into the hard rock.

Our roads are littered with huge trucks, cranes and concrete mixers. The air is polluted with fumes and dust causing health problems for many residents. 

Inexistent planning

The lack of planning in the locality is abysmal. There is absolutely no balance between the number of residents and open spaces, the number of residents and sports facilities, the number of residents and accessibility into and out of the locality, the number of residents and the volume of traffic and availability of parking spaces.

Our locality has been raped and it is being destroyed by inexistent planners. We must stop the rot.

Open spaces

The locality lacks open spaces. Adjacent to the civic centre there is a vacant plot of land that is privately owned.

We have been asking the central government to purchase this land for over 10 years. We desperately need this land and we deserve it.

Our plan is to have an open space at road level and a Regional Art and Culture Centre at semi-basement level.

The locality does not have anything that is socially funded; thus we have no social schooling, no social housing, no sports facilities and no open spaces.

Our request fits perfectly well with Project Green’s €700 million project to create open spaces. We deserve this project hands down.

Local government – my foot

During the recent swearing-in of the newly elected councillors, the prime minister and the parliamentary secretary for local councils stressed that local councils were, in essence, local governments.

How can we be considered a local government when our powers have been decimated, our autonomy annihilated and our financial independence aborted? 

The recent local council election results have proved that people are totally in favour of local councils and that they are not at all happy with the way the central government is treating local councils. 

We need to and must be in a position to take decisions that directly affect the locality. We need to be in control of whatever happens in the locality. We need adequate financial resources and we should have the right to choose the contractors that carry out public works in the locality.

We need less dependence on the central government because we are the ones who know our locality and what is needed most. Above all, we need to be in charge of the locality’s environment and well-being.

Carrying capacity 

One of the ways to start addressing the population problem in the locality is to carry out a carrying capacity exercise.

Such an exercise should have been the foundation of all Planning Authority decisions before these were taken.

How many people can the town accommodate given the existing road system, open spaces, and capacity of main services, including sewers? And, therefore, how much new building should be allowed?

Or what major alterations to the town’s fabric need to be carried out before any more construction is permitted?

This exercise must be carried out without further delay and before it is too late and the planning policies for Swieqi amended accordingly.

The cost of this study must be borne by the central government since the local council is not in a position to pay for it.

Determined

We are determined to increase and enhance the services we offer. We are determined to right what is wrong and to convince the central government that our way is the right way.

We are determined to listen and to serve. But our efforts are thwarted and frustrated by lack of understanding and direction by the central government.

We are the ones who know best what our locality needs and what the priorities should be.

One thing that we know for sure is that the ‘one-size-fits-all’ attitude of the government, where no attention is given to a locality’s demographics and physical characteristics when policies are employed, must stop and be replaced by a more democratic system.

Noel Muscat is the mayor of Swieqi.