Matthew Xuereb
Paceville residents want bars to close before 4 a.m.
"Life in Paceville has become a misery" - resident.
Paceville residents would like to see the law changed so that bars and clubs would close well before the established cut-off time of 4 a.m.
On the other hand, bar and club owners are unhappy that the authorities this year decided to put their foot down and enforce the curfew, even on Christmas Eve and tonight, New Year's Eve.
Joseph de Conti Manduca, a Paceville resident who used to form part of the now disbanded Paceville Residents' Association, said residents were "living in hell" because of the noise, vandalism and the constant inconvenience they had to endure on a daily basis.
He argued that bars and nightclubs should start closing down at 11 p.m. so that, by midnight, the place would have been cleaned up and the revellers gone home to sleep.
"Life in Paceville has become a misery. We have been here before the bars started to sprout. It's become a 24-hour city. Even getting into your own house is a nightmare. We cannot continue living this way. Paceville's name should be changed to Storbjuville (noiseville)," he protested.
He complained about "ear-shattering" music, screeching tyres, vandalism, honking of horns and revving engines very early in the morning. Mr de Conti Manduca said residents had to endure people throwing up, urinating and defecating outside their doors.
The 4 a.m. issue arises from time to time. Bars and nightclubs are bound by a permit not to play music after 4 a.m. and the Finance Ministry reminded all last week that the law had to be respected.
Philip Fenech, the president of the tourism and entertainment section of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, said a balance had to be struck between the interests of bars and nightclubs and those of residents, both local and foreign, including service providers in Paceville.
He said that, following a series of meetings to "socially re-engineer" Paceville, bar and nightclub owners had lowered the volume of music in their establishment by two-thirds. Bar and nightclub owners invested heavily in sound-proofing and double doors so that the music would not bother neighbours.
Asked to confirm whether the police were reprimanding bar and nightclub owners whose music was being heard from outside whenever clients were leaving or entering the premises, Mr Fenech said he had received reports to this effect.
He referred to the town centre management pilot project, which was looking into such issues in detail in an attempt to harmonise all service providers in Paceville.
Mark Grima, owner of Fuego nightclub in Paceville, believed that, by enforcing the 4 a.m. law, the government was trying to "ruin the nightlife industry". Most venues, he said, did not start proper trading before 2 a.m.
He said the measure, coupled with "crippling electricity rates", would result in a drastic drop in revenue.
"Come January, we will continue to offload full-timers, probably sending them back to the government on the dole."
Jonathan Grima, who runs the nightclub Havana, said the police enforced the 4 a.m. closing time on Christmas Eve and revellers were out on the streets, leading to fights and chaos.
Mr Fenech appealed to people to be in their favourite establishment well before midnight in order to avoid the usual rush for the countdown. He also called on revellers to pool cars and to use the park and ride facility from the Luxol Grounds.
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Joe Borg
Nov 9th 2010, 16:48
I would say that 2am would be fair for both bar owners and residents. The whole problem is originating from the arrogance of bar owners of not just having thebar open till 4am but also of playing loud music which could be heard from outside the bar. This is all the fault of arrogant bar owners.
yaz tabone
Jan 5th 2010, 15:40
do they realise how many tourists they have scared off by closing bars at 4am? let alone what would happen at midnight! i had friends and family come over every year for the nightlife and i ve been trying to convince them to come over - their reaction "what for?" . malta was known for the nightlife, and now we ve got nothing. i have a friend who organizes big parties with foreign DJs - the DJs have REFUSED to come because of this law.. cant blame them! silly to come all the way to malta for a 2 hour set! - this is killing the nightlife industry. we are losing everything and people will realise when its too late!
i dnt party cos i have a son to care for, but i would never dream of ruining other peoples fun. its a shame that malta is coming to this and i don't blame all those for leaving! we are not a fun country.. just a boring old peoples home!
Joseph Azzopardi
Jan 1st 2010, 15:13
I understand the inconvenience that residents go through, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. But it is wrong to paint a totally bad picture of PV.
1. It is not a 24-hour city, especially since the 4am law came into being. (Partying starts at around 8.30 - 4am hardly 24 hours for an entertainment hub).
2. It is preposterous how you do not realize the strategic and touristic importance that PV has for Malta.
3. I know for a fact that the bar I go to on Saturday nights has paid fines for playing music after 4 am and for not closing its doors early. Now it even installed a new second door so that it is as sound proof as possible.
My suggestion is simple. The government should help clubs (maybe by forging out a one-time allowance equal to 50% of the cost) to sound-proof their buildings. This would mean both no further time constraints for bars (beyond 4am), and less people on the street because lets face it..if bars close at 4am, and people want to stay more they're gonna end up in the streets, afflicting more damage to PV residences.
Karen Zammit Manduca
Jan 1st 2010, 02:32
@ Marcel Mizzi - "Paceville business employs thousands of workers and collects huge revenues from Tourism. If we keep hindering the growth of business were are we going to get the money to pay for Mr. Conti Manduca's pension ??"
Agreed, but they can still do it legally and at the right noise levels. I will still argue that there is absolutely no need for ear shattering music to enjoy yourselves. I myself love music and play it all the time at home and in the car, but I don't have to make everyone else for miles around hear the music I am playing!
As for paying pensions, I don't think we should venture there either. I'm pretty sure that throughout his working years (probably around 45 of them) he's paid all his taxes and NI contributions as an investment towards his pension, which is whatever any other employee should be doing to ensure his own pension in the future.
Karen Zammit Manduca
Jan 1st 2010, 02:25
@ Clive Gerada - Enforcing the regulations concerning boosters and stereos in cars all over the islands is what I was referring to (apart from anything else) because I am aware it is all against the law and it is useless having laws and regulations without adequate enforcement. It would be best if there were bars just catering to those under 17/19 - ideally having no alcohol and the right form of entertainment as well as being strict in whom to allow in (i.e. nobody "over age"). In this way, older people don't have to wait until the young have gone home to go out themselves.
@ C. Zarb - Obviously you are not a parent. It's a lot easier said than done. Don't ever forget that the theory of parenting is very far from the practise. You'll find out for yourself one day. On the other hand, if you are a parent whose children have long grown up (i.e. in their 40s or 50s), you cannot compare that time to today. There was far more respect and discipline then.....and no space here to argue why or how so let's not go into that either.
W Spencer
Dec 31st 2009, 21:57
I still remember my Dad telling me, that the pubs open from 6pm until 11pm closing. Thats 5 hours to drink to excess, listen to loud music that will result in tinnitus, and chat up the girls.
After that, it was either call in for a burgher, call in a restaurant for a curry, or a bag of fish n' chips on the way home. A great evening out with friends, so why would I need to stay out longer ??
smifsud
Dec 31st 2009, 18:58
the solution to this problem is to get the"Nightlife Industry and Gov" to patrol the streets and minimize any disturbance when the revelers are leaving for home and also there should be 3 breathalyzers areas on the way out of Paceville to prevent any drunk driving to occur ..
C.ZARB
Dec 31st 2009, 18:26
With all due respect but you can't destroy the entertaining industry in Malta just because some irresponsible parent can't control their children from coming at home at 11pm. I have another idea. Fine the parents who allow their own children to stay out beyond midnight. I doubt that peer pressure would be an issue then.
Clive Gerada
Dec 31st 2009, 18:23
@ Ms.Zammit Manduca,
regarding the following comment "I don't think the noise caused at 4am is caused by 17 year olds. Rather it is cars and motorbikes with boosters on their silencers revving and the squealing of tyres to compete for machoism. Also the ear-shattering stereos that can be heard from blocks away."
If this has to be abolished, it has to be abolished all over the country, since you find these people all over Malta. When I went abroad I did not see even a car who had boosters or other which makes noise pollution! because abroad IT IS AGAINST THE LAW!
C.ZARB
Dec 31st 2009, 18:21
I rarely visit Paceville nowadays but I can answer your question Mr Manduca. The main problem with Paceville is the irresponsible parent who allow 15 year olds to stay there up till 1 am. Can you imagine adults having fun in a kindergarden?
I think that both parties have a point. Residents should be protected as much as businesses should be protected. Switching Paceville off at 11pm would mean sending Malta back to the middle ages. On the other hand the government should make sure that music is kept at a reasonable level and that no idiot ends up turning the village into a dump.
Clive Gerada
Dec 31st 2009, 18:20
Dear Ms. Zammit Manduca,
I understand your worrying, thus for us going out at 8pm does not make any sense, since at that time there are many teenagers around, who most of them are the main source of problems regarding fights and chaos in the streets., apart from that even some annoying foreigners tend to create problems around... so I believe there must be much more vigilance from the police, thus leaving everything as it is!
Marcel Mizzi
Dec 31st 2009, 18:17
@Karen Zammit Manduca
Don't be naive, you cant change the time young people go out. Its the same all over Europe. Its also not fair asking people to move out of Paceville. On the other hand PV has become an entertainment place and given time the residents will have to move out as whatever the closing time of clubs is their will still be inconvenience for the residents. I am sure that if cars are heard revving and breaking at 2:00 am its just as annoying as 4:00 am! I say strike a compromise for now but eventually this problem will cure itself. The residents will move out and sell their houses to businessmen and those with rented ones will rent them out to young people. Many other areas are effected by the activity that goes on.
Paceville business employs thousands of workers and collects huge revenues from Tourism. If we keep hindering the growth of business were are we going to get the money to pay for Mr. Conti Manduca's pension ??
Karen Zammit Manduca
Dec 31st 2009, 16:42
Regarding time of entertainment - why is there this need for young people to go out at 10 or 11pm and subsequently need to continue for most of the night? What was wrong with going out at 8pm and returning home by 1 or 2am?
Many young people are going to their day-time jobs tired out after nights of entertainment until the early hours. The result is many of the social problems we are experiencing today i.e. bad attitude towards customers and less patience with family and friends, reduced work performance, bad anger management, accidents at work and on the road due to tiredness and exhaustion.
It is true that the entertainment venue operators need to earn their living as well, but I can't see why it cannot be done at civilised times and with due consideration for all and sundry, especially when it comes to noise levels.
Another point to note is that enough research has been carried out to prove that excessive noise exposure, even if only once or twice a week at a bar or disco, is very harmful to our ears and in many cases will result in reduced levels of hearing at earlier ages.
Karen Zammit Manduca
Dec 31st 2009, 16:33
@ George Cutajar (Cont'd) - "The bar and club owners cooperate with the authorities and have, only recently, spent thousands of euros to install double glazing but they have no control over the louts that make all the noise and act irresponsably once out in the streets at 4.00 A.M.
Perhaps it is time that parents of kids under 17 start insisting on their children being home by eleven."
I don't think the noise caused at 4am is caused by 17 year olds. Rather it is cars and motorbikes with boosters on their silencers revving and the squealing of tyres to compete for machoism. Also the ear-shattering stereos that can be heard from blocks away.
Last week I was in Paceville and the music I heard from the streets is so loud that I could hardly speak to or hear my friends. So I don't know about soundproofing etc.....especially when the doors are left open.
In this so-called Socialising Area, how can one 'socialise' if one cannot even talk without shouting to be heard. Then one thing leads to another, the louder the music from the bars, the louder the talking in the streets.
Karen Zammit Manduca
Dec 31st 2009, 16:20
@J.Micallef - When the airport was built, I don't think the houses were as close as they are today. The villages just grew outwards until they virtually reached the airport perimeters. In the case of Paceville, the residents were there before and until the late 70s/early 80s there were a few bars and restaurants that kept noise to civilised levels.
@George Cutajar - Don't assume that all residents own their houses and so can sell. It would be great for us parents if children under 17 or 18 could be home by 11, but that is also easier said than done. Without going into the merits of this argument, if you're not a parent of children that age you will never understand because theory is one thing and practise quite another. When the French authorities set up a curfew for children under a certain age, I thought it was a great idea because then we parents could enforce this because "it is the law" and it could possibly over-ride the peer pressure that is making our children - and the noisy Paceville revellers - what they are today.
Karen Zammit Manduca
Dec 31st 2009, 16:12
@ A.Borg- You are simply reflecting the selfish attitude of most of today's young people. It is easy to say that Paceville residents can just move but you don't stop to consider whether this is always possible for many reasons including the fact that many of the houses are rented and not owned. If I came to play my car stereo full-blast beneath your window at 4am almost every night, or opened a bar for the deaf (i.e. music so loud that even the deaf can hear - or feel it) would you be willing to simply move away or would you fight it and call for enforcement of the laws that are there simply on paper but never enforced.
@I.Abela - Your suggestion is very valid. Why not have an entertainment area where it won't bother people such as an industrial area? Problem is where - in ODZ land? If there were space the industrial areas would be good and there would be life at all hours of day and night - morning for work and evening for entertainment :-))
I Abela
Dec 31st 2009, 15:19
Every country should have an entertainment spot. Our's is at Paceville. So if paceville is not the right place why not build an entertainment spot and divert all the nation's revellers there. We build industrial estates, we build smart cities, we build nature reserves, we build racetracks, we build national parks, so why not build a 24-Hour entertainment zone?
wally vella-zarb
Dec 31st 2009, 14:58
@Adrian Borg
"... then that is their problem not ours!"
So, 'Might is Right'? Like I have already said, "What a selfish and childish attitude!"
J Micallef
Dec 31st 2009, 14:55
with your reasoning mr conti de manduca, we should close off the airport cause of all the noise pollution eminating from planes !!!!!!
L. Brincat
Dec 31st 2009, 14:54
Will the government be promoting Malta as an island full of nightlife in the next (& last) Isle of MTV event? If yes... where's the nightlife?
GEORGE CUTAJAR
Dec 31st 2009, 14:51
While sympathising with PV residents - though hot much of them are left - it is pertinent to point out that their neighbours made big killings years ago selling off their houses to businessmen. Thsy should have done the same.
The bar and club owners cooperate with the authorities and have, only recently, spent thousands of euros to install double glazing but they have no control over the louts that make all the noise and act irresponsably once out in the streets at 4.00 A.M.
Perhaps it is time that parents of kids under 17 start insisting on their children being home by eleven.
S Schembri
Dec 31st 2009, 13:13
To all PV residents, isn't quite obvious that the bars and night clubs are here to stay? If peace is what you seek you can probably find it in any other village in malta or gozo except paceville.
Adrian Borg
Dec 31st 2009, 12:09
@wally vella-zarb
"majority of Paceville residents" ... there are only a handful after all.
Times change. If people decide to live with a close mind and do not want to change with the times and adapt ... then that is their problem not ours!
wally vella-zarb
Dec 31st 2009, 11:30
"Just move houses"!!!???
What kind of weird twisted logic is that? Mr Manduca, and indeed, the majority of Paceville residents were there well before the deterioration of the place into the jungle that it is now. What a selfish and childish attitude!
Robert Agius
Dec 31st 2009, 11:28
I think i have a solution to the problem. Since about 40% of properties are vacant, why not relocate the few residents to some other location. Closing b4 4am? 4am is already absurd, it hasn't really solved much, has it!?
I miss the good old times where i could leave home at 2am and stay in a bar till 6 or 7 am or later (especially if i would be working at a bar and would like to go for a drink before heading home). Now i have to go early only to find it full of people 15 years younger than myself. It occurred to me that this could have quite some repercussions in itself. not to mention what tourists think of this. If people think this does not have a negative effect on tourism, think again (and I'm not talking about students here but people who after a year of working decide to come enjoy themselves for a few weeks.)
Unfortunately Maltese people are out of options and PV is one of the only places to go to.
Jon Vercellono
Dec 31st 2009, 11:17
Slapdash "seat of the pants" enforcement measures not employing a holistic approach (what do the consumers from Malta itself - those using the Paceville product) think the product needs ; as well as the residents; as well as the owners. Hurried enforcement measures such as these - which obviously will affect the industry (when it could be done in a more effective way) - leave one wondering who is behind the hidden agenda? Involve everyone and explain what's what - clubgoers reading this article would certainly wonder what was behind this and become resentful of measures such as these.
Joe Morana
Dec 31st 2009, 11:04
My sympathies with Paceville residents who are regularly subjected to noise pollution and other hardships and inconveniences caused by the "entertainment " establishments.
It is common knowledge that law enforcement regarding noise abuse in Mlata , leaves much to be desired, particularly noise caused directly and indirectly by some entertainment establishments.
One wonders what Mr Fenech (GRTU) means " balance had to be struck between the interests of bars and nightclubs and those of residents". It seems that Mr Fenech is ignoring or is not aware of the health hazards and nuisances in all its forms associated with noise pollution caused by some "entertainment establishments" in the locality. Furthermore he seems to discard also the MHRA President's assertion some months back, stating that noise pollution is one of the causes which is negatively effecting the Malta Tourism Product .
It is also shameful how the other entraprenuer quoted in this news item seems to be threatening the goverment with employee dismissals to get his way.
May I suggest that Paceville residents re establish their residents' association, so that collectively they would be in a better position to voice their protests and concerns to safeguard their rights and legitimate interests
Adrian Borg
Dec 31st 2009, 10:38
Paceville is the only place of its kind in Malta. Let's kill it together with the large industry it sustains.
Yes of course, you have a right to an adequate life Mr Manduca. Just move houses. What would happen if a place was excessively air polluted? The same with excessively noise polluted.