One cannot expect to find peace and quiet in an entertainment mecca like Paceville. Maintaining public order in such areas is a headache and a feat for law enforcement forces the world over.
However, when the level of lawlessness causes it to be described as a ‘wild west’, then it is a sure sign that drastic action must be taken.
When Paceville hits the headlines it is usually for the wrong, often tragic reasons. Murders, grievous bodily harm, rape, serious damage to private property, mass accidents, brawls, bouncers going over the limit... you name it, this has all taken place in Paceville.
Practically every sector of society, including business lobbies, have expressed concern over the situation at some point. Though the COVID-19 containment measures may have slowed down the pace of activity, worrying reports persist.
There was mayhem again on New Year’s Eve.
About 50 people were involved in a fight that occurred both inside and outside a restaurant, leaving three people injured and several under arrest. The police response appears to have been timely and effective. But they still have answers to give.
A woman accidently caught in the incident, and who was knocked unconscious when she was hit by a bottle hurled across the room, claims protocols issued by the health authorities were not being observed.
The locality’s mayor has drawn a contrast between establishments going out of their way to comply and others that flout the law. “Some people and their establishments in Paceville seem to be untouchable. All I am asking is that laws should be observed equally by all and should, therefore, be enforced equally for all,” Albert Buttigieg told Times of Malta.
The presence of ‘untouchables’ appears to be Paceville’s biggest problem. It is the impunity behind the lawlessness that prompted Buttigieg to speak of a “wild west”. He had used that term in an article he penned in this newspaper last September and repeated it in relation to what happened on New Year’s Eve.
When something nasty happens in Paceville – hardly a rare event – worried citizens are fed the usual rhetoric of plans for greater police presence, more discipline and better law enforcement. There was once talk of CCTV cameras being installed to better monitor the situation on the ground and even take preventive action.
Has all this taken place? Has it worked?
In his contribution last September, the mayor did not point a finger only at the police but at other entities too, such as the Environment and Resources Authority and the Malta Tourism Authority.
He did so because he rightly contends that the prevailing “blatant laissez-faire” mentality goes beyond physical violence. Drunkenness, drug dealing, naked people walking around or having sex on the beach, daily construction inconveniences, parking spaces taken up by tables and chairs, commercial garbage thrown away outside collection hours and the sheer arrogance of certain bar owners are other inconveniences people in the locality have to put up with.
It is not enough for the restaurant at the centre of the latest incident to have been sanctioned over breach of public health rules. Had the fight not occurred there is every reason to believe it would have flown under the radar.
If the situation in Paceville is to be effectively addressed there has to be meaningful, concerted action and an inter-ministerial effort.
In this wild west, the sheriffs must make their presence felt. As the mayor remarked, only the cowboys – the untouchables – would be averse to such a plan.