House focuses on local councils

The House of Representatives on Friday unanimously gave a second reading to a bill amending the Local Councils Act. The main purpose of the bill is to regulate the election of the mayor and the deputy mayor. The persons winning the most votes from the party winning a majority in a council will henceforth automatically assume those posts.

The bill also included a number of technical amendments on the holding of the council elections. Opposition leader Alfred Sant and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg, who rounded off the debate, were reported on Saturday.

Earlier in the debate, which touched on every aspect of the councils' work, Environment Minister George Pullicino said local councils have been divided into six regions for waste management purposes.

He said that the 42 bring-in sites currently available in Malta and 16 in Gozo would be increased to 400 in collaboration with the local councils. This would mean having a bring-in site for every 300 households, compared to one for every 400 overseas.

Mr Pullicino said three tenders for waste management had already been issued by groups of councils in the north, the south and southeast, and the west.

The government had put aside Lm1,500 for each local council to have at least one bring-in site on its territory. Some councils had shown interest, others had not.

An information campaign about waste management was already underway and leaflets were being distributed to all households.

Mr Pullicino also reacted to opposition criticism about plans for the modernisation of the Sant'Antnin waste recycling plant. The MLP, in an electoral programme, had boasted that it had improved the plant to the extent that it was no longer an inconvenience to residents. But this government disagreed and would therefore be modernising it. Contrary to what was being claimed, the volume of waste at the plant would not be raised, and the amount of organic waste would rise by only 5,000 tons.

The government was also setting up green wardens who would operate in plain clothes to stop environmental harm, such as through dumping. Once administrative costs are covered, the total proceeds of the intended system of bigger fines would go for an environment fund to help local councils and NGOs with their own environmental projects.

Labour MP Gavin Gulia said road works in and around Zebbug, although necessary, were creating serious inconvenience for motorists and there was need for better traffic management. It had certainly made no sense for works on certain roads to have been taken in hand at the same time as works on other roads which could have been used as alternative routes.

An effort should now be made for works to be completed as early as possible.

Nationalist MP Joe Cassar raised the issue of traffic management problems in Rabat. He asked who was responsible for traffic management at George Borg Olivier Road. Over the past year the council publicly said that this was not its responsibility but the roads minister had told him in reply to a parliamentary question that this was neither an arterial nor a distributor road, meaning that it fell within the council's competence.

The council, he said, should not unjustifiably blame lack of funds for not taking certain action - anything from road works to replacement of street bulbs. Certain works had been approved well before the budget cut but they were still not being carried out.

Dr Cassar said there were several one- way signs covered by garbage bags. The bags sometimes came off, creating confusion.

Michael Farrugia (MLP) said the central government needed to back up works done by local councils. For example, the council could not do much with regard to the cesspits at Bahrija and it was about time that a proper sewage system was built in that locality.

Dr Farrugia complained that local councils were often changing traffic systems without approval by the competent traffic authorities. Road humps have been set up on many roads, but hardly any were accompanied by signs to warn drivers about them. And some of the road humps were clearly dangerous.

The standard of bus shelters needed to be raised. As it were, with perspex behind and not in front of the people, there was no protection when cars splashed rainwater. And perspex did not afford protection from the sun's rays.

Certain areas had major environmental problems, such as the localities surrounding Maghtab. It was unfortunate that only Labour councillors made their voice heard about the problems these localities were facing.

Labour MP Roderick Galdes said the method proposed in the bill for the election of the mayor may be an improvement, but it was not a complete solution. There had been persons in the past, who, because of their age, could not keep up with the stress that the position of mayor imposed.

Mr Galdes said he would like to see local councils involved in consumer affairs. The councils should also be involved in the drawing up of the local plans by Mepa.

The Labour Party, he said, was proving to be forward looking on the councils, having already introduced, within the councils where it had a majority, the appointment of the mayors with the highest number of votes, ensured there was proper control on spending and promoted regional initiatives by the council.

The law, he said, should have included a new funding formula for the councils, with greater consideration being given to the needs of the larger councils.

Mr Galdes said government authorities needed to be more open to the needs of the councils. The Transport Authority, in particular, should not reject traffic management suggestions practically out of hand.

David Agius (PN) said it was good that the candidate with the highest number of votes from the majority party would be appointed mayor. When no party won a majority, the longest serving councillor, and not the oldest, should become mayor.

Mr Agius underlined the need for the councillors to be well prepared for their duties. And it was only fair that councillors should be compensated for expenses they made, such as for fuel and phone calls.

Referring to the term of office of the councils, Mr Agius said a three-year term was not short, but it appeared to make sense not to have a local election every year, which meant extending the term of the councils.

The Nationalist MP said councillors should increasingly involve the people and voluntary organisations in their decisions. He suggested that the councils should provide more facilities for children and the elderly. The elderly could be given a greater role in the running of localities, such as controlling traffic near schools as was done in the US.

It was particularly important that the local councils fostered a stronger culture of sports.

He also suggested that more councils should seek twinning protocols with overseas local councils since the exchange of experiences was always useful. Most of the twinning protocols so far were with European councils. Perhaps the councils should consider twinning with councils in North African countries not least because of the issue of illegal immigrants.

Concluding, Mr Agius said the wardens system was good but the wardens should respect the citizens and when they do not understand the law they should admit their mistakes. The wardens should be given clear directions of what they may do and may not. It was manifestly unfair that people were arraigned before tribunals, losing a day's work, over matters where, clearly, it was the wardens who were mistaken.

Joe Brincat (MLP) referred to the election of mayor. He said that the MLP had been implementing the system being proposed for a long time. But in an election in Zebbug, two people had once obtained the same number of first-count votes.

This problem could recur, but the bill was not providing a solution as to what would be done in such a case.

Dr Brincat said he did not like the system how contracts at a local level were awarded and there should be stricter controls in the interests of transparency.

The Labour MP strongly criticised the wardens system, saying he had his doubts over the legality of the way companies managing the system received their income from the fines the wardens imposed. This implicated an interest in having more fines imposed. Yet lawyers who preside the local tribunals have not been paid since June and there was, apparently, no budget allocated to them.

Dr Brincat said he was strongly in favour of waste separation. This was a system which should be introduced in a uniform manner throughout Malta and Gozo. The councils could have a supervisory role, but the government should meet the costs of maintaining the skips so as not to impose more burdens on tight local council budgets.

Referring to the amendment where a non-resident could contest a locality's election, Dr Brincat said he was suspicious of this clause. A former councillor who moved house should be able to contest an election in his former locality, but perhaps one should stop there. He feared that otherwise this provision could be used by general election candidates to build their political nests within particular localities solely to get themselves elected to parliament.

Nationalist MP Franco Galea stressed that the role of mayor should be that of a team leader. A mayor should not be arrogant with councillors and try to be above them.

Now that the candidates would be directly electing mayors the mayors should, more than ever before, be the unifying factor in their councils.

Mayors should also insist on accountability and see to the health, safety and wellbeing of the people.

A positive aspect of this bill was that it was giving minorities within the councils stronger powers and rights.

Mr Galea cautioned that there were councillors who were abusing of travel. A particular person, for example, had stayed abroad for 12 days even though a conference he had to attend lasted only three days.

Mr Galea said the councils were created for the benefit of the people and should not be poisoned with unnecessary partisan politics.

Labour MP Chris Agius referred to the new method for the election of mayors. It seemed that if an independent candidate were the most popular, he would never have the chance to be mayor. This was unjust. An independent candidate should also be given the chance to be mayor.

Mr Agius said that while the government was burdening councils with new responsibilities, it was reducing their funds in real terms. Although government workers were being seconded to the councils, they were not being given the materials they needed with which to work.

Mr Agius said local wardens needed to be more vigilant against the dumping of waste. The councils also needed to act over the large number of cars without a licence.

He stressed the importance of the councils working on a regional basis, saying the Labour initiative with regard to the councils in Cottonera had been very fruitful, particularly in the areas of tourism and education.

Mr Agius asked when the redevelopment of the Dock 1 area would be taken in hand. He insisted that development should respect the characteristics of the area and not be aimed at speculation. Plans that reportedly existed for the building of six-storey high apartment blocks did not fit this need.

Labour MP Marie Louise Coleiro said the bill should have reflected more commitment for the councils to be given more responsibilities to work in the social sector - as long as they were also given the funds and backup they needed to be effective.

Several councils managed by a Labour majority were taking important initiatives in this sector but it would have been better if the government legally entrenched such initiatives in the bill.

If the bill was really aimed at giving minorities more importance, it should have included an amendment to solve the democratic deficit within the Local Councils Association, where Labour was in a minority although a majority of the councillors in Malta were Labour.

Ms Coleiro observed that the voting document was now to start being sent by registered mail. Did this mean that documents would no longer be distributed by the police and only the postal company would be responsible. If this was the case, how was the procedure to be regulated?

Turning to her constituency, Ms Coleiro said that although the Qormi council was doing its utmost for the valleys to be given more attention the central government could not expect certain things to take place just with council efforts and funds.

Although substantial progress was made in the cleaning of valleys, there was still an accumulation of rubbish at inner Wied il-Kbir, and the risk of flooding remained. The flooding problem had to be considered in a holistic manner if it was to be solved. And several people who had suffered considerable damages in the September 15 floods of 2003 were still awaiting compensation. Unfortunately they were not assisted by the Malta Community Chest Fund.