How local councils function

I refer to Charles Grech's letter entitled The State Of Marsascala (July 19).

It is incorrect of Mr Grech to label the whole of the Marsascala local council as a "banana republic" for the simple reason that this implies that all the councillors are monkeys.

Mr Grech should examine the way local councils are run and what power is invested in the individual councillors.

The decision to set up a shambolic market along the marina, denounced by the Marsascala business community and the people at large, was taken by the mayor. The members of the local council had no say in the mayor's decision, and the council has not met since.

If Mr Grech were to have a look at the council minutes he would see that various councillors do have Marsascala at heart but can do little more than table motions.

The mayor, backed by his party, runs a one-man show, as can well be gauged by the local council publication just pushed through our doors. It is time for Mr Grech and everybody else in Malta and Gozo to realise that democracy in our islands functions through 65 MPs sitting in Parliament and 68 party clones, at times referred to as mayors, dispersed through the various local councils.

My short involvement in the local council strengthens my belief that such councils are a waste of public money and the sooner they are restructured the better for the country and its people.