Pietà council rents house to serve as police station

The locality of Pietà and Guardamangia is to have its first police station thanks to an initiative by the local council which rented a building at its own expense and offered it to the police force.

Mayor Malcolm Mifsud said the council's initiative stemmed from the belief that the station would provide an essential service to the 4,000-strong community.

The house is in Hookham Frere Street and is now in the process of being refurbished. The station is expected to open in the coming weeks.

The agreement for its transfer was signed yesterday at the council offices by Dr Mifsud and Police Commissioner John Rizzo in the presence of Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg, Local Government Minister Austin Gatt and senior police officers.

The council will be spending Lm800 on the structural works required to convert the house, Dr Mifsud said.

The first request by the council for a police station was made in 1996.

Dr Gatt said the move showed that finances provided to the councils could be used for initiatives that went beyond the provisions in the Local Councils Act. He said local council budgets had increased over the years and part of their funding also came from schemes run by the councils themselves.

The police station at Pietà would also be an example of collaboration between central and local government, and this collaboration needed to be developed further, he said.

Many of the problems within the community were relatively small and could be resolved with early intervention. Fortunately, local councils were becoming focal points for these kind of problems.

Dr Borg said the Police Act, which came into force last month, emphasised that the police should consult local councils over problems in the locality.

Regular consultation meetings between the police and local councils were laid down in the law. Such meetings are already being held in some localities and he augured that more meetings would be held in others.

Dr Borg also spoke about efforts by the police force to man police stations.

More policemen had been recruited, he said. Since 1998, 235 policemen had been recruited and another 102 would join the force when they completed their course at the Police Academy in a few weeks' time.

The new police station at Pietà/Guardamangia would be the 75th in Malta and Gozo.

Previously residents were served by the Hamrun district police station. In fact, the new station will form part of the same district.