The public and its space

In the second week of July, the forces of law and order took action against various cafés and other establishments, removing any tables, chairs and other street furniture that had been placed in public areas without permission. It was not the first time that such action has been taken this summer. It will not be the last.

Within the new government I have been entrusted with responsibility for, among other things, the government property division. Some of these properties are rented out but others are public spaces, like squares, promenades and pavements, intended to be enjoyed by the public. I am determined that such public spaces are not illegally annexed by private interests.

In reclaiming space that had been abusively taken over, the Lands Department is acting in concert with the Malta Tourism Authority as well as the police. Many business establishments have been instructed to comply with their encroachment permits and to remove the furniture obstructing public space. Most did so. They are not in our sights. Our eye is on repeat offenders.

In Gozo, a day or two after the early July exercise, some stubborn owners openly flouted the law again. Cynically, they reoccupied public land with their furniture. Perhaps they believed the government had earlier been going through the motions.

Wrong. The enforcement action was repeated. And they were officially warned that another breach would lead automatically to the revocation of their encroachment permits.

Moreover, both the Lands Department and the MTA have been instructed to draft regulations that would significantly increase the sanctions against repeat offenders. The envisaged penalties include the revocation of licence.

I have noted with some satisfaction that, to go by the response and online comments in the media, these enforcement actions have generally been well received by the public.

I am aware that many times the law has had to be enforced, and furniture removed, with some inconvenience to patrons of the establishments. This is regrettable but to some degree inevitable. It is mostly in the evenings, when they are open to custom, that the establishments breaking the law put their furniture out in public spaces. We are concerned to ensure that the inconvenience is minimised.

The best way to do this, of course, is to eliminate abuse once and for all. To achieve this, I hope to take a number of steps to expand the reach of the government property division. One is to set up a 24/7 freephone service to enable the public to bring abuses of public land to our attention.

Another step is to increase the number of enforcement officers. The department currently has only two, meticulous but overworked. We have issued calls for applications, within the public service, to fill more than 40 vacancies.

Beyond these steps, I would be prepared to take further action, if necessary - including making abuse of public property a criminal offence, through the appropriate amendments to the Criminal Code. But I trust we would not need to go so far.

This government is pro-business and pro-tourism but it is also pro-citizen. With goodwill, the interests of all three can be served well. The government has the goodwill as well as the resolve.

Dr Azzopardi is Parliamentary Secretary for Government Revenues and Lands.

jason.azzopardi@gov.mt