Dangerous slippery surfaces in Sliema

My wife and I are holidaying in Malta. It is always a pleasure to be among family and friends to renew our past acquaintances. This must be the nostalgic dream of many emigrants who have left the shores of the beautiful island home.

As we were walking along the Strand in Sliema right across from the ferries, my wife stumbled on a very slippery piece of pavement.

There were marks of worn-out anti-skidding rubber strips meant to stablise our walk. However, to our utter dismay, these offered no protection.

My wife slipped and fractured and dislocated her right wrist!

The help we received from bystanders was phenomenal. With a bit of help I managed to support my wife to the nearest pharmacy at the base of Manwel Dimech Street.

We managed to get more help and were driven to the nearest hospital.

The service was competent and most efficient as my wife underwent surgery.

Obviously, this ended costing us an arm and a leg, added to our trip!

This is also acceptable within holidays because common sense tells me that accidents do happen everywhere.

What became rather difficult is when we phoned the Sliema local council to see if there is any type of reimbursement in situations of this nature in order to meet some of our costs, more so when the pavement conditions are not meeting the required standards. In effect, we were told that we need a legal counsel!

At the same time it was acknowledged that this particular area will be looked at and repaired accordingly!

At all times we were very polite and calm about the whole experience. Our understanding is that the officer who spoke to us is conveying to us current practices and policies. Am I missing something here?