Hoteliers call for agency to handle Paceville
Increased police presence in Paceville is not enough and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Organisation is proposing the setting up of an empowered agency to do what needs to be done.
The MHRA believes there should be an effective management structure in the form of a government agency representing various interests and jurisdictions. The agency, it adds, must have sufficient powers to deal with the situation in Paceville, otherwise it will become just another talk shop and nothing will take place.
“Paceville has become the Mecca for undisciplined youths bent on causing disorder, where uncontrolled behaviour, often fuelled by excessive alcohol and drug consumption, is turning the area into a shambles to the detriment of the community, tourists and investors,” MHRA president George Micallef said. Calls for a safer Paceville were sparked off by a series of violent events in which people were attacked in and around the area. A pressure group has also been set up. The Swieqi local council and the federation of English language schools demanded more police officers on the roads and for a “zero tolerance” policy.
While welcoming the initiative to set up a pressure group and saying it deserved support, Mr Micallef insisted that the lack of police presence was only “one issue affecting the area”.
He said the MHRA was concerned that Malta could no longer be promoted as “an absolutely safe place, free from muggings and similar crimes” if the situation remained unchanged.
“Increased police presence needs to be a well thought out process because we can’t have an entertainment and holiday resort looking like a police state,” Mr Micallef said.
Police officers also had to have the support of the law because, in some instances, existing penalties did not constitute any deterrent, Mr Micallef said. A number of rules had to be revised including, for example, those governing the sale of alcohol, which had to be properly regulated and then the regulations enforced. Earlier this year, the government published a revised legal notice – issued in 2006 – to curb such abuse.
The MHRA noted that it had been suspended for further revision but remained pending, missing another season.
Mr Micallef called for a complete overhaul of the noise emission laws, saying it was possible to follow successful examples of other entertainment places in Mediterranean destinations.
Turning to the “so-called” gentlemen’s clubs, the MHRA called on the authorities to regulate them, not to drive them out of business but to eliminate all forms of abuse. “A clear policy has to be established because, if more clubs open, the area runs the risk of being turned into a red light district, which is certainly not desirable,” Mr Micallef said.
The MHRA believes laws regulating the employment of bouncers “are now well overdue and need to be enacted and enforced as soon as possible”.
While Paceville benefited from various investment projects, it was not matched by adequate zone-management policies, especially in regulation and enforcement, upkeep, cleanliness, traffic management, noise pollution, building works and aesthetic control, which left a lot to be desired, he added. Such issues were discussed with the authorities over and over for years but very “little success has been achieved”.
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Mr Joseph Calleja
Aug 17th 2011, 15:59
Like I said many times before, nobody can save Paceville except for Paceville itself, and by itself I mean the club proprietors and operators. You can have a policeman at every corner, but unless the clubs police themselves, nothing is going to be solved. On the other hand there is way too much money in play and that is how the clubs and other businesses make their profits. In other words, it is like putting the wolf in charge of the chicken coop. What ever happened to government intervention? Maybe parliament is on Summer vacation at the present, but you cannot always depend on the government?Go figure..
Pierre Ciappara
Aug 17th 2011, 14:50
Im reading the comments and realising that most commenters dont know what s happening in Paceville. Especially you Mr Reginald Borg, because all the things that you mentioned do happen all over the world. It doesnt need to be Paceville. If you want drugs you dont need to go to Paceville. If you want nudity switch on your Television. If you want alcohol buy it from the supermarket. And If you are sexually active go chat on your computer and you ll find someone there. Have you been to London, Paris, New York, Moscow, Ibiza? Paceville is about choice. From watching a movie to having a great night out. And Paceville happened to be the place for every occasion. Whats wrong with that? I ve been going there 17 years now and I always had a choice what to do and where to go. And when I got my girlfriend pregnant was infact during the week because we had nowhere to go, If Paceville was good on week days at the time, most probably she wouldnt have got pregnant. Good Day.
Mr M Borg
Aug 17th 2011, 13:43
It is about time that rules are put in place where gentlemen's clubs are concerned.
These clubs have turned into places where anything goes.
Mr C Cassar
Aug 17th 2011, 13:55
You seem to know alot about them. Do you visit them regularly? If not, how do you know what goes on inside such clubs?
Laurence grech
Aug 17th 2011, 14:31
The only thing im sad about these clubs are the women
such YOUNG pretty girls between the ages of 16-20... work in such establishments ...
Pierre Ciappara
Aug 17th 2011, 14:36
Mr Borg I think Gentlemen clubs are the only places in Paceville where everyone behaves!!!
Mr Joseph Calleja
Aug 17th 2011, 15:40
Mr Cassar your comment hits below the belt and you know it. So if a judge has never been inside one of these gentlemen clubs, he is not qualified to make a fair judgement? It sounds like you might be a frequent visitor, am I right, because if not maybe you can visit one of these gentlemen clubs and find out for yourself what goes on. Been there, done that?
Mr John Farrugia
Aug 17th 2011, 13:38
Dear MHRA, you should start by ensuring that the hotels you represent control the students within the respective hotels they reside in. As you are aware most 3* hotels and now being leased as accommodation for language students. A case in point is the Miramare Hotel in St Julian's with its balconies overlooking the newly refurbished steps. I have witnessed competitions in the early hours of the morning of students throwing beer cans and bottles into the bins from their balconies, everyday the steps are filled with cigarette butts and lately it's pizza boxes apart from the underwear, towels, chewing gum etc etc - these steps are filthy thanks to some students - SOME MONITORING PLEASE
Steve Mifsud
Aug 17th 2011, 12:49
Sorry mate but your hotels are full of these students.......you have caused the problem yourself. You are ruining "real" tourists experience of Malta. They expect to come here on holiday to unwind and find themselves stuck in a hotel full of these spoilt brats simply because the hoteliers want to make a fast buck. Unfortunately you are guilty of being extremely short sighted and are actually causing serious long term damage to Malta's tourism industry. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Mr Karl Consiglio
Aug 17th 2011, 12:02
The Government has turned its back on Paceville. Its a fact.
We had to move out.
I spit on my last vote
charles tabone
Aug 17th 2011, 11:48
Dear Hotleiers
I assume you have all been to London's West End, particularly Leicester Square, or Prague's Main Square, Or Graz at Puntigram. I cannot ever asume that the British Police or the Czech's or the Austrians would ever bow their heads to such a suggestion. It is the police job to do the policing, the teacher's job to educate. Then the onus of financing certain police activities should be supported by those who are in the business like hoteliers, restauanters, host families, language schools etc, etc, etc. It is a pity, or is it arrogance, that those who make the money talk so much without lifting an agile finger.
Mr Reginald Borg
Aug 17th 2011, 11:08
Is it true that Paceville has become a drug haven?
Is it true that Paceville has become an alcohol port?
Is it true that Paceville has become almost a female nudist camp?
Is it true that a part of Paceville has become an almost red light district?
Is it true that almost all Paceville has become an open-air lavatory?
Is it true that Paceville has become an open-air centre for sexually active persons?
Is it true that certain 'hotels' are offering their clients to practice group sex and females are being caught pregnant?
Bob Kelly
Aug 17th 2011, 12:39
Well, is it?
Mr C Cassar
Aug 17th 2011, 13:54
No it isn't. You've clearly never been there. It's full of young people (and some not so young) having a good time. There are thousands of people there each evening in the high season (now) and 99.99% never have an issue. There's always going to be a handful of incidents in an area so busy, in the same way as in any other European city's nightlife zone.
How about reporting each day that 99.99% of the visitors to Paceville have had a good time without any issues? Why doesn't that make news each and every day - it's fact.
Tim Gauci
Aug 17th 2011, 14:29
Not everyone who goes to paceville do drugs, binge and have sex with strangers.
I Bugeja
Aug 17th 2011, 14:41
Mr Cassar is right. 99.99% 'enjoy' to a certain extent the time there. There are some bars which have upgraded to the extent that they have raised the bar for other owners.
Unfortunately there are also those who allow smoking inside and whose bouncers advise clients to stop smoking when police are coming. There are filthy bars, tax evasion and vomit on the streets and if you think I am exxagerating go take a look. I am a 28year old and been there numerous times but being there like the other thousands does not mean that changes do not need to be done!
The overall standard in the area needs to be improved and if police in their uniform are not effective then why not use plainclothes police?
Ned Kelly
Aug 18th 2011, 14:39
No sense of humour here!
vincent a galea
Aug 17th 2011, 10:40
“Increased police presence needs to be a well thought out process because we can’t have an entertainment and holiday resort looking like a police state,” Mr Micallef said.
Therefore would it be possible to increase the presence of PLAIN CLOTHES policemen/women ??
These will be effective also inside bars and clubs curbing the sale/use of drugs, if this is really desired, because sometimes I wonder !!