Power wash costs St Julians council €100 a day in summer

The St Julians local council forks out €100 a day in the summer months to power wash the dirt and urine on the walls closest to St George’s Bay.

“We are overwhelmed by the students and tourists in summer. We have to suffer the dirt and vandalism these bring along,” mayor Peter Bonello said.

In fact, the council recently applied for and received more government funds for cleaning the walls at the bottom of Villa Rosa, close to St George’s Bay.

Although residents regularly complain about the noise caused by inebriated students who gather in the bay at night, the problem was placed under the spotlight last week in court when two Spanish students were given a suspended sentence for skinny dipping in the bay.

Police officers who testified described the bay as a mess and a “huge problem” which, at night, was full of drunk, noisy students. This led the presiding magistrate to make a public appeal to remedy the situation.

Mr Bonello said the council received many complaints about Paceville and the bay but admitted that there was not much the council could do.

Although there were about 15 police officers assigned to Paceville, these were not enough, he said. “We asked for a stronger police presence. I understand they are understaffed but, then, I get angry when I see about 50 police officers assigned to a football match,” Mr Bonello said.

He called for a police station, even if a small one, in Paceville manned by officers round the clock.

While admitting it received many complaints about St George’s Bay, the Malta Tourism Authority, which is responsible for the bay, said it was constantly taking action to keep it up to standard.

It had installed a closed-circuit camera, which led to the arrest of the two Spanish skinny dipping students after the control room requested a patrol car to go on site.

The MTA also hired a pri-vate security company to patrol the bay between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.

But a director of one of Malta’s leading language schools point-ed out that the infrastructure had to be beefed up during the five weeks in which the majority of students visited Malta. The director did not wish to be named.

Between mid-July and August, the number of students inc-reased tenfold and the authorities had to boost services, such as cleaning and placing more bins, for example, in around Paceville, he said.

He admitted that complaints about rowdy students were a big concern but said students were not the only ones who caused problems.

He suggested placing security cameras in more Paceville “hot spots” and have them connected to the police station, where they could be monitored.

On their arrival, students – teenage and adults – are infor-med of the consequences of certain actions and what is legally allowed. “They are told they can’t drink alcohol in public and what is the legal age for drinking, for example. They know exactly what the legal consequences are,” he said.