The police have been called in to investigate how the tape of a pre-recorded edition of the popular TVM programme Xarabank, which was due to have gone on air last Friday, had somehow been erased.
The programme, recorded on Thursday, had been a continuation of the previous edition, which discussed the situation in Paceville. That edition had been cut short after a bomb threat was received.
To prevent a repetition, the producers had decided to record the follow-up programme. The recording was made on Thursday after elaborate security measures were taken.
But the tape was found to have been erased at Public Broadcasting Services shortly before it was due to have been broadcast and the station immediately announced it was holding an investigation.
Informed sources said the tape could only have been erased on a special erasing machine at the station.
Another recorded edition of Xarabank, which discussed the Church and young people, was broadcast instead. Although Xarabank in normally broadcast live, that programme had also been recorded because the Archbishop needed to go abroad. Had that not happened and Xarabank had not been aired, PBS would have lost several thousand liri worth of advertising, the sources said.
Programme presenter Peppi Azzopardi promised yesterday that next Friday`s edition of Xarabank will again discuss Paceville.
Security expert has `solutions` for Paceville problem
According to security expert Fred Vella, all the stakeholders in Paceville, from the business operators, to consumers, residents, tourists and the authorities, stand to gain from a well regulated, peaceful environment in Paceville.
"I have solutions for the Paceville problem and how to deal with such sensitive issues," he told The Sunday Times yesterday. "There were 27 night clubs in two streets of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, alone with a problem similar to Paceville.
"Over a period of time, the problem was solved with proper management and good security skills. The current situation has to be dealt with at various levels with a blueprint for security and cleanliness being drawn up and changes in local bylaws introducing much-needed discipline."
Mr Vella said it was no use having security cameras installed if they were not manned and for the police to have a presence without active patrolling. Efforts have to be made to upgrade the place and keep the streets clean.
"If the place is safe and clean, more people of different age groups will be attracted and the businesses will do even better - apart from improving the environment," he said.
"The hardest part of my blueprint is not how to fix the place but to get the authorities to sit down and listen. We have to look at the positive elements of the locality and not the negative."