Valletta karozzini owners booked for ignoring horse`s bib regulation

Valletta local council yesterday clamped down on karozzini owners in the capital and booked 14 of them for failing to comply with the regulation stipulating that an apron should be hung under their horse`s belly, to serve as a receptacle for the animal`s droppings.

Wardens, together with the authorised officer for Valletta council, Ernest Tonna, went round the capital and started booking the drivers, most of whom refused to give their particulars. The police were called to assist and the karozzini drivers were then booked by the wardens.

Contacted for his reactions, Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier said: "Enough is enough. We are fed up waiting.

"The regulation about the need to have the apron was announced in March, the regulations were issued in April and karozzini owners have had ample time to comply.

"At the end of the day, karozzini owners have to realise that Valletta residents and commuters do not like the idea of having streets soiled with horse droppings.

"They either respect the wishes of residents or they might as well stop coming into Valletta," Dr Borg Olivier said.

Valletta local council subsidised half the costs of the apron, which costs Lm20.

The fine for contravening the law is Lm10 for the first offence, and Lm20 for each time it is repeated.

Cab drivers have been resisting fitting the bib, arguing that it was impractical and that it is harmful to and frightens the horses. After the cab owners joined the General Workers` Union`s port and transport workers section, they were given a few days in which to come up with alternative solutions but Dr Borg Olivier said the council had not received any suggestions.

"The council informed the GWU that we were going to start taking action and that is what we did. We are determined to continue taking action," he said.

One cab driver said it would be easier for them without the bib, but acknowledged that horse dung caused inconvenience.

"Sometimes we remove it, but it is not always possible. I guess once the law is in place and they started enforcing it, we will have no alternative," he said.

Others were not so keen to start obeying the law.

"We shall see how this is going to end. It is rather discriminatory that our horses have to have a bib. What about the horses used by the mounted police and other horses drawing carts?" they argued.