St George's Bay bottle party

Coloured pendants flying from decorative lampposts at the beach in St George's Bay announce the completion of another phase in the project. Great care has been taken to provide a high standard for beach users and various guidelines are in place to control littering and offer a pleasant beach experience.

But when the sun goes down the scene transforms into something reminiscent of the infamous playground park behind Spinola Palace, on the doorstep of the Hilton Hotel, where revellers of all ages gather nightly to down alcoholic beverages purchased at nearby outlets.

The new expanse of beach at St George's Bay is now serving as an extension of the Spinola drinking hole with no warden or police officer either present or showing any sort of concern.

Instead of gazing out onto the idyllic bay, promenaders are forced to watch students of all ages on the new beach, a number of minors included, hitting the bottle openly. Families who have come to the beach for an evening out are suddenly at risk that this behaviour will be perceived as normal by their children when there is no one in authority present to raise a red flag. This behaviour is unacceptable in a country which has recently professed its concern about the growing problem of minors consuming alcohol.

On a visit to the United States some years ago I saw a police car speeding to a call with lights flashing and siren wailing. The cause of the police swoop was a 12-year-old Mexican boy who had been offered a sip of beer.

A less heavy-handed approach can be adopted in a sensitive tourist area but strong measures must be taken without delay. Think of the damage to Malta's student tourism industry if word were to get out to parents of foreign students that Malta is the destination famous for its authorities' blind eye attitude toward underage drinking in public spaces. Incidents of this type can cause resentment among a local population toward the behaviour of foreigners.

The Malta Tourism Authority should take full responsibility for the management of the beach by day and night. Security officers present should be in close contact with police patrols in nearby Paceville to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control.