Have your say - How did your local council fare?

Joe Grech

Feb 22nd, 23:08

Stop the unnecessary spending. 13 Local Councils, one for each electoral division are more than enough.

E. Attard

Feb 22nd, 21:31

I am sure that if I had to make a survey to find out which is the worst local council, I am sure that St Julians LC will get a trophy ! In the Dean Hamlet area there has been dumping problem around the streets that has been there since 2006 and the LC seem to ignore the problem. To make matters worse, the LC issued a regulation that garbage is only collected on mon, wed, fridays and sat so you can imagine the amount of garbage that is accumulated esp since people are just placing their garbage during the night esp over the weekend. To top it all, this area is visited by many youngsters who drink and throw their empty glass bottles and cups, not to mention the fact that then the cats open the bags and the dirt is scattered in the streets ! I have spoken to various ministers and also to persons who work in the LC but it seems no one could do anything to solve this problem ! In Summer the problem is increased as we will have rats and mosquitos and the stench is unbearable at times . Another problem that there is also the amount of noise that these youngsters cause at all hours of the early morning. This area really lacks attention and its a pity because it is a very popular place amongst tourists ! Calling the police is out of the question as their reply will be that there is a lack of police in the station.

St Julians LC are so incompetent and never see to the complaints of the residents therefore I surely will not go and a vote !

Mr michael fenech

Feb 22nd, 21:28

Mr/Ms R Mallia

I can assure you that the council listens to the people and makes sure that problems are solved when possible. I can proudly say that thanks to the professional and dedicated staff our council has in the past years scored very well in costumer care.
Would like to invite any one interested to come to our offices and spends a day with us and witness what a efficient and customer care friendly our Local council is.

jennifer camilleri

Feb 22nd, 18:43

I will not be voting for the local council in Balzan because our street has been neglected for several years even though we have put forward a petition to have it made into a one way street. It has become a very dangerous road for our children and elderly to cross to the church. Also a permit has been issued to build a house smack in the middle of the village core's gardens when everyone knows this should not be allowed. Several years ago we complained about the festa poles being erected on the pavements and they are still being done in this way every single year with no concern for people with buggies or the elderly. Local council here ignores what the people really need .

Charles W. Sammut

Feb 22nd, 08:15

I will not be voting in the Local Council election in Mosta.

Road maintenance is non-existent. I spoke to the mayor on several occasions and he always says that there is no money to maintain the roads. In his position I would resign in protest. This applies to both the present PL and the previous PN led councils. Absolute waste of time.

They promise everything before every election and then do not deliver. So, from now on, I will only vote according to what has been achieved (or not achieved) after their term. This is like an exam. You do not get your marks before you sit for it but after, depending on how you did during the exam.

Bil-Malti m'hinix ser nixtri aktar hut fil-bahar.

Albert Vella

Feb 21st, 15:24

Reference to comments posted by Mr Anthony Valvo Xghajra's Mayor. First of all I have never spoke to Anthony Valvo on this issue . The only Mayor I discussed informaly with was the one of Zabbar. Secondly, although we are few families in number in this street it does not give any rights to people like Mr Anthony Valvo to make our lives as hell....Who is he ? We do have rights to protect our families from traffic and noise pollution. Mepa?,was St Leonard street Zabbar included in the white paper? We have never had any issues before regarding the traffic accesses on to the batching plant,the nearby farms and ta' Maggi industrial estate the problems started when SSTP project commenced. All the carting away of rock cut material by heavy trucks have passed infront of our houses. Now, ten trucks daily are loaded with toxic material and carted away to the land fill. All traffic should be evenly spread on other roads. A 30ft wide tarmaced road alteady exists and is being used by trucks (temporarly). What we were suggesting is that our road will be a one way. I have never proposed that the traffic should be diverted in order not to cause any inconvenience to me...that's not true. The planning traffic managment and the authorities suggested same issues as I did and I stop here. Mr Valvo knows all about that and on the contrary of what he stated ,he is the one that remains only seeing his own side of matters.

Ivan Attard

Feb 21st, 14:09

Comment on Local Councils? What a waste of time. The vast majority are NONEXISTENT and just a waste of resources. I say DISMANTLE them immediately and save money down the drain. As to my vote? Well, it will be added to the collection of shrink-wrapped voting documents I have been collecting for the past 15 years!

Anthony Pace Gouder

Feb 21st, 12:25

It is obvious , that judging on the 195 comments, Councils with a large population, like Mosta,Sliema ,Birkirkara ,St.Paul's Bay are failing , facing priblems and too many complains.

Contrary,villages with a small population, 500 to 2,000 ,seem to be fareing well . Mdina (no mention) would certainly rank FIRST with a pop. of less than 250 !

This clearly shows that Mayors in the larger Towns and Villages are disadvantaged and under pressure coping with their constituents .
In this scenario, a Council with a larger number of members doesn't solve anything , where the administrative office/secretarial staff is practically just a person or two more than that of a hamlet !

There will come a time when these 69 odd LCs will be reduced into District Councils with the larger towns/villages as their Administrative Seat . The satellite villages around will still elect their represantitives to a better manned Council (say 30 members) .

This will also help replace the present WEAK secretarial duplication with a REAL administrative set-up , with a sufficient team of clerical officers, professional personnel and technicians .

Quantity will give way to Quality .

Mr michael fenech

Feb 21st, 10:31

Reference to comments posted by Mr Neil Zammit yesterday I would like to point out the following.
Residence like Mr Zammit often ask the council to put green skips but no one want such skips next to his house. The reason why is that as soon as skips are placed they will end up as a rubbish dump. If Mr Zammit has a place where to put such skip I can assure him that such skip would be placed the next day.

Regarding abandoned cars would like to inform the general public that we have passed a list of cars in the area to the police and waiting their response so that we can start towing such cars.

Comments regarding Main Street are unfair and do not state facts properly. Kindly note that main street was paved years ago together with various roads in Birkirkara and therefore pot holes cannot exists and road is cleaned 4 times a week like all other roads in Birkirkara. As to garbage kindly also note that in Main street garbage collection is done like all other areas in Birkirkara.
As to last comments local councils need people who are ready to serve their town/village/city and not only criticise everything the councils do.

Michael Fenech Adami

Victor Rodenas

Feb 21st, 09:16

Narrow roads and very wide pavements,....could it be that the asphalt of the roads cost much more than the cement of the pavements and this way the Govt .will be saving a lot of money ?

Charles Micallef

Feb 21st, 06:16

St Paul's Bay Local Council has been a total disaster, the neglect in our locality is there to be seen by all. St Paul's Bay requires a more mature council, who will have enough time on their hands to be able to dedicate to managing the second largest council in Malta with a population of some 21,000 local residents going up threefold during the summer months.

The question is, what are the voters going to do about it since less than half of the votes have been collected, are they going to give up their opportunity to improve their quality of life and surroundings, or are they just going to complain for the next council's tenure?

Jesmond grech

Feb 20th, 23:47

J. Grech
Sta.Venera
Really, do we have a council in this village
We at Triq il - Brunzar never heard of such council

Ken Cowan

Feb 20th, 23:47

Pieta:
I was told that if I wanted a free flu vaccination (I'm 65 years old and have emphysema) that I should contact my local council. I was told that I was too late to put my name on the list, as a month and a half earlier they had left brochures in the letter boxes explaining what to do and by when.
I asked if by any chance the brochure was in both Maltese and English. "Just Maltese" I was told.
Strange that all the advertising brochures I receive are in English, but the ONE brochure dealing with PUBLIC HEALTH is only in Maltese; although the Council obviously only cares about Maltese people's health, if I catch the flu I can spread it to those in my area, and if I need hospitalization, it is the Maltese Health Service which will have to pay for it. NOT putting public health announcements in English as well as Maltese is what I would call either total stupidity or complete incompetence (one seems to become the other...)
They told me that for next year the brochures will be in both languages; after reading the preceding comments by other people about THEIR local councils, I don't think I should hold my breath.
Is there anyone on this island that actually CARES about doing a good job? I'm truly shocked to read the comments left here.


Should perhaps be the othe way around, no?

george grech

Feb 20th, 23:29

balzan local council............inexistent. go to nearby Lija and you discover for yourselves.

Alex Borg

Feb 20th, 23:08

When during roadworks Transport Malta accidentally knocked down a wall and then put off the works till after completion of on-location filming, our street was left literally like a war zone for well over a month. San Giljan LC were nowhere to be seen. The mayor's trouble shooter was totally arrogant in his communication. They just passed the buck saying that Transport Malta were responsible leaving the residents to liaise with them and the contractor. Instead I would have expected the LC to intervene and co-ordinate.
I also do not know what the LC is doing to help tackle the various problems in Paceville, foremost among which is the late arrival of Police to control brawls. The fact Police do arrive late seems to be concocted to justify the need for bouncers, who are always quick to pounce on the youngsters at times for totally trivial reasons.

Joseph Magro

Feb 20th, 21:51

GRAZZI KBIRA TMUR LIL KUNSILL TA HAZ ZEBBUG U LIS SINDKU ALFRED GRIXTI TA L-GHAJNUNA LI SIBNA BIEX TELLAJNA KARNIVAL GO HAZ ZEBBUG TAL GENN :)
JOSEPH MAGRO

A. Schembri

Feb 20th, 21:16

it appears that local councils have recieved too much complaints and even been asked to be removed by alot of people...

im just going to put forward a suggestion....how about a council for a district? say 13 councils since 13 districts ( though i suggest gozo be divided since a little too big)....

this way they are not entirely removed but a somewhat democtatic administrativ council remains....

Anthony Pace Gouder

Feb 20th, 16:21

i can confidently say that the Sliema Council was really WEAK and proved incompetent ! Here are just three REASONS to justify my point!

Case 1 :- A 3 meter wide pavement,on a Corner Site , which had been left open as a public area for over 45 YEARS, hence lost to the public, was permitted to be cordoned off as private property! Over the years this area has been maintained, paved and embellished with trees thro' Public funds. When contacted , the COUNCIL's only reply was that it was private property (means they don't know the regulations and site history ) and that a permit ,for the wall, was granted by MEPA. What's worse is that no splay on the 4 to 5 course boundary wall was formed, rendering it a BLIND corner as its impossible to see on-coming vehicles . The narrowness of the pavement at the corner ( 90 cm) is even dangerous for pedestrians .
Case 2 :- I had succeeded for the placing of an ' ACCIDENT BLACK SPOT' sign. After a few days this was removed, as THE IMMEDIATE resident objected and demanded its TOTAL removal ! ......when this was at the pavement's edge!

Case 3:- Traffic Mirrors. A MINIATURE mirror, hardly noticable, on same dangerous corner . A MAXI-SIZE MIRRORdouble sized ,close by, for a private garage exit !!!!!!!!!!!!!?

John Tabone

Feb 20th, 16:07

St.Julians's LC...never acknowledged or had a reply to our e-mails.. regarding the possible alternative to our parking problem... the only reply was through a warden hitting us out with the issuance of parking tickets in front of our home...with all the blessing from our protective St.Julians LC... with the Penderville project, we were left without any parking slots or another alternative... we have to do with the continuous noise and dirt pollution...and no one could care less.... the only hope for is having someone as considerate as Mr.Richard Scicluna..working for our cause... 5 votes down the drain for the present St.Julians Local Council

Mark Borg

Feb 20th, 16:04

Attard Council

The young and energetic mayor of the locality, Mr Stefan Cordina, is a cut above the rest. He goes out of his way to be of help irrespective of, often against all odds and at great personal sacrifice. We need more people like him.

Randolph Spiteri

Feb 20th, 15:11

St. Venera Council

Shame on the council for failing to take note of the parking problem. we have not one but TWO commercial bank centres within a few hundred metres of each other. Where do you think the employees park ? Yes you got it, they fill up the streets in their locality from 8 till 5.

Or is it only "tal-pepe' " residents that get residential parking ?

Please note that when I got an errand to run in Sliema or other similar localities where they have residential parking, I cannot find parking precisely because a good number of parking spaces are reserved for the privileged few.

Now why can't we have residential parking in every locality ? What sort of social justice is this ?

I am sure there are other localities which are suffering the same problems every day.

I Bugeja

Feb 20th, 14:31

Sliema local council - we have a lot of letters behind the surnames of the councillors denoting how much education these people have. However it seems that villages and towns with less 'educated' people are doing their job much better because they actually work for their birthplace and not their wallet!

On another note I notice that across Malta roads are being rebuilt but the road leading all the way from msida (near police station), through to testaferrata street and the strand is a total mess. Then its horror when you reach the black gold bar area where cars park recklessly, rubbish is taken out in the evening etc etc.

R. Balzan

Feb 20th, 11:27

Balzan local council, in my opinion, has been almost non-existent. Apart from one council member who, it seems, is employed by the council to look after road works, all the rest - especially the mayor - have been conspicuous by their absence. i hope they don't present themselves for re-election as they surely won't get my vote.

Neil Zammit

Feb 20th, 11:06

Birkirkara Council - the only thing i know about the council is that they have an email address. I've sent photos and complaints about triq il-qassab, photos of huge potholes, asking to install skips for people to throw trash bags in, removing abandoned cars and cleaning up the road. But the only time the roads are cleaned is when all the trash is carried away with heavy rain water.

But to be fair (NOT) the birkirkara Local Council's leader is Mr Michael Fenech Adami and the road and whereabouts where his father, EX President Eddie Fenech Adami lives are all paved nicely and cleaned regularly. If you walk a few steps away then all you see is rubbish and potholes.

I've complained but nothing was done. We do need new people running for council in Birkirkara!! Someone who will work and make birkirkara a better, cleaner, safer place for us to live in and not just the areas where his father lives.

Thanks

Anthony Pace Gouder

Feb 20th, 08:56

Our Sliema LC really fared miserably!

This PN lead Council had a turbulent term ,with no less than FOUR pn councillers TURNING independants , including a Mayor's resignation and three renagade members.

This rendered Mayor Gonzi with a minority , as she only had the reliable support of three STILL faithful members. The PN had started with a Majority of 8 in an 11 seat council , that eroded down to FOUR !!!!!! Resulting in INDEPENDANTS 4 , PN 4 , PL 3 .

Peter Valentino

Feb 20th, 08:34

I have been consistent in called Swieqi local Council with regard to street lighting maintenence since early December. I even e-mailed them. A part of our street is in total darkeness. Maybe Swieqi Local Council doesn't exist, after all ?

Christina Pace

Feb 20th, 08:33

Jien nista nghid li il kunsill lokali ta san pawl il bahar, ghalkemm ghamel progetti validi u kellu kunsilliera tajba, xorta naqar milli jaqdi id-dmirijiet basici ta kunsill lokali.

1. Il-progett tax-xatt il gdid sabih m'ghandniex xi nghidu, pero, jekk dan kien dejjem fil-pjanijiet, ghalfejn allura il-parking tas-sirens kient tranga inqas min sentejn qabel biex regaw qalawh? U jekk rega sar mill gdid ghalfejn diga inqalat bicca kbira tarmac min-naha ta wara?

2. Ghalfejn skips ghal skart domestiku huma biss provduti 'lil xi erba xxurtjati waqt li il bqijja ikollna nitfghu iz-zibel fuq il bankina qabel ix-xoghol u hafna drabi iz-zibel issibu mxerred mal-bankina u grieden jigru min borza ghal-ohra?

3. 3 snin ilu mara gergret muq pratika li kellu il-kunsill ta san pawl u jien ghamilt l-istess dan is-sajf. Dawn kienu qed "inaddfu" il bajjiet tal-franka u slipways bit-trab tal chlorine. Mhux biss dan hu ta detriment ghall-ambjent marittimu immedjat, imma ukoll ghal min ikun fil vicinanzi minhabba gassijiet fl-arja u ilma aciduz. Dawn waqfu iwettqu dawn l-atti biss wara li gbidt kull hajta li stajt nigbed; Awtorita tal-ambjent, professuri tal-biologia marittima, health and safety. Fittxi f'din il-gazzetta stess u taraw l-arroganza li il-kunsill innifsu irrisponda biha meta din il-mara kitbet lil gazzetta.

4. tnehhew il-bins ghal hmieg tal-klieb u ghalkemm twahhlu numru ta bins ohra dawn mhux jigu zvujtati regolari. Hemm wiehed mil-bins kien qed ifur bil-boroz tal-kelba tieghi biss sa ftit ilu.

5. Il-problema tal-parkegg qisa ma tezistix. Tant ma tezistix, li hemm kaxxi sofor anke fejn hu car li m'hemmx raguni ghalihom, ezemply triq il villeggiatura hemm kaxxa safra quddiem hanut maghluq li carissimu li mhux qed jintuza lanqas bhala garage, ezempju iehor hu ix-xatt il-gdid, waqt li hu sabih dan naqqas 4 parkeggi min hdejn is-sirens.


Jien persina li iz-zibel ma nohorgux iktar min30 minuta qabel ma jghaddi taz-zibel. Qatt ma nhammeg quddiem ghadbet haddiehor. Il-hmieg tal-kelba tieghi dejjem u nibqa nigbru. Nigbor il-kelba mid-dar u nerga lura d-dar f'xi s-seba biex forsi nsib parking legali. Ghalekk nistenna li-il kunsill lokali jiehu azzjoni meta jkun hemm dawk ic-cwiec li jitfawlek harja ta nofs kilo wara il bieb u jhalluha hemm, jew xi hero jitfalek vettura bmod li jiehu zewg parkeggi, jew meta iz-zibel jibqa hemm gieli anke 3 ijiem.

J Mangion

Feb 19th, 19:52

what there is a local council in Swieqi ? I haven't noticed for the past 15 years !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! blue or red doesn't make a difference !

Peppi Borg

Feb 19th, 17:57

St.Paul's Bay 's shabby state explains all about the kind of local council we had to endure. A dirty locality, roads and pavements found in the thirld world, no sense of comunity. We nedd change.

Rita Debono

Feb 19th, 17:56

An unbuilt site next to our house has been attracting rats for a large number of years; every time I phone the local council I get the same answer: It is not within our jurisdiction! So is the rubbish left outside snack bars over the weekend. So is the rubbish in the streets which the street sweeper is supposed to sweep each and every day.......... Parking fines seem to be their only worry.
Waste of time and money. Don't bother to vote!

Anna Grima

Feb 19th, 17:40

I have been living in TRIQ IT-Tiben for the past 34 years.This is one of the very first streets to be developed in ST>ADREWS and as yet nobody has ever had the decency to have it asphalted or whatever has to be done. More than once the Local Council has sent to have the potholes filled with one occasion when I confirmed that this is really a Mickey Mouse country.
A man turned up in a station wagon where he had all the material necessary, filled the potholes, got into the car and drove forward and backwards on the filled holes about 20 times to flatten them.I thought I was dreaming.A week later it rained and the council had to send someone to clean up the mess caused by all the material which came out of the POTHOLES.Waist of money and waist of time. When it rains we are prisoners in our own homes because cars splash on you not giving you the time to get into or out of your car.
Another point is about the only plot left in Triq it=Tiben which has been left to become a jungle, with bushes and trees breaking the once existing pavement, with irresponsible persons dumping all sorts of things including daily rubbish thus making it paradise for RATS.Come summer these rodents are out and about in our street, and to avoid the cats,they climb trees into our terraces on the first floor.It sounds unbelievable but I have photos.This plot has no boundary wall because when I told the council that they should erect the wall, then send the bill to the owner, I was told that because of a LOOP-HOLE in the law they are not prepared to do it because the owner can take them to court and win the case and they'll be lumped with the damages.C'est la vie! what am I supposed to do? Vote to elect the Councillors? HaHa what a joke!!!!!

Joseph M. Saliba

Feb 19th, 16:48

B'KARA Local Council with a huge deficit of over hal a million. Road markings illegally drawn without prior approval from Malta Transport. Malta Transport know about this illegal parking bays yet they do not want to create waves. Roads in B'Kara are not swept according to established frequencies. It is high time to change this miserable Council.

cesco di luigi

Feb 19th, 16:30

In Sliema the local residents parking scheme, long promised by the local council, never came about. BUT they provide priviliged parking to certain special people.. no wonder there is a prevalent PERCEPTION of corruption throught our society.

cesco di luigi

Feb 19th, 16:27

This morning , a huge crane which had been dangerously blocking one half of Dingli Street in Sliema for over 2 years, although the building site had been abondoned 2 years ago, was removed. No points for guessing why...it's local council election time!!! These people think wer'e morons.

albert pace

Feb 19th, 14:40

st julians local council never do anything against the illegal parrking in wied il ghomor street which is just 50 metres away from the local council and another 50 meteres from the police station

A. Attard

Feb 19th, 14:24

Attard Local Council....oh, do we have a council?!!!!!!

Darren Attard Bonnici

Feb 19th, 12:27

VITTORIOSA - Parking inkredibilment tal-Wahx ...

1. kulhadd jiparkja fejn irid u kif irid, minajr il-permess tal-parking... Ghax is-sindku ma jridx wardens fil-lokalita.... mela ghallura ghalxiex noqod bhac-cuc nitla il-kunsill inhallas il permess fis-sena?

2.Il-birgu inbatu fil parking min 4 festi fi-sena... San Duminku (4 Days), San Lawrenz (9 Days), Easter Sunday, Kuncizjoni ta-bormla(Kwazi Gimghatejn!) u biex ma nkabbaromx ma nsemmix l-isla ghax gieli tafetwana ukoll... (u qed inhalli barra Birgu fest li jkun imqassam fuq 4 T'ijiem u attivita li is-sindku itellgha fil-milied...Birgu By hekk u Birgu By L-ohra... sirna ghar min Valetta nahseb..

_____________________________

FESTI...

Min fejn nibda tejd?... Fil festa ta san lawrenz kullimkien toroqd maghluqa biex itellaw l-gharmar... u kif ukoll toroq maluqin biex jergaw izarmaw .. F'san duminku ikun emm listess ammont ta armar ... ma jinlqux toroq ... jew jekk jinalqu vera ftit! ...

Arbli tal-wahx kullimkien toqob, ma juzawx listess toqba ma jmurx jihdu il pesta min xulxin... imma meta edt lis sindku qalli li gieli sabu xi hgieg fit toqod bi skop li iweggaw lil xulxun...Jien ghedtlu - f'dak ik kas ghax ma jamlux tappieri tal-hadid? ... qalli - Dawk taf kemm jiswew? ... jien wegibtu - Jekk ma ghadomx flus biex jaghmluwom ... jaghmlu 2 festi minajr Nar ta l-ajru u jgibuwom il flus biex jaghmlu it-ttapieri ibzax .. jekk mandomx flus mela ma jghamlux arbli... ..... dan apparti gharbli fnofs il parking Bays, min habba fihom ikollok thalli il karozza kwazi nofsa fit-triq .. tisogra li jigbdulek faxx mal genb.

L-aqbwa il birgu by candle lights biex igibuna fuq is-super one u il-borma tar ross tal world record... Il guiness andom world record iehor fil birgu... rekord ta kummiedji...

john vella

Feb 19th, 10:27

(.................................................................................................................) this was going to be my remarks of Zebbug Local Council but I decided to clear.
What's the use to forward any writing. This is only a means and a set up for those who want to get themselves know and become popular for future Parliament elections. As one in the committee is reported to have said: I am only interested in votes.

JANE FARRUGIA

Feb 19th, 08:13

St Julian's Council
Efficiency!?? Twelve years ago I drew the attention of the mayor personally about the wrong spelling of the street name plaque. The arrogancy of it all is that when recently I again made him aware of it through Head Office in Valletta, he was cheeky enough to phone me up saying that he was waiting for the contractor to FIX it. ...........after 12 years it is still unchanged.
What about unanswered emails sent to the council.........still waiting for a reply to my email sent in November 2011.

Raymond Sacco

Feb 18th, 15:12

Qawra and Bugibba residents seem to be considered as second class citizens for St. Paul's Bay local council. The council recieves money for a large area, including Bugibba and Qawra and spend it in the small area of St. Paul's Bay. Promenade restoration stopped exactly near Gillieru restaurant! Pavements in Bugibba and Qawra are a disaster! Just to mention two examples! They only remember these parts when it comes to traffic wardens. And now, I guess they expect us to vote!

Charles P Cilia

Feb 18th, 14:11

Wardens together with the local Police in Fgura please note:

Some motorists without any regard to other drivers have a habit of double parking exactly right opposite the Fgura Police station, sometimes three cars in a row. Dangerously, drivers having to maneuver over the double lines to overtake while facing traffic from the opposite direction. If not, they will be waiting there for ever causing traffic jams and flared tempers in this busy arterial road.

The police officer in charge can witness these infringements by looking out through the station's window, yet no action seem to be forthcoming. Unfortunately, as always,only after some fatal accident some positive action will be taken.

Wardens should also police the area instead of hiding around the corner with the hope of trapping drivers who do not abide with the roundabout's give way rule.

Some action please !!!

Miriam Attard

Feb 18th, 12:02

Local Councils are a farse

Albert Vella

Feb 17th, 19:04

Mela , xi nghidu ghal l-aqwa zewg kunsilli li ghandna ahna fi naha tisfel ta' Malta....qed nirreferi ghal Kunsill ta' Haz Zabbar u l-iehor il Kunsill ta' Xghajra..... Fejn hi il gusizzja? ahna residenti fi Triq San Leonardu abbandunati minn kull aspett...Storbju,hmieg trakkijiet ghaddejjin bi speed eccessiv u l-anqas biss tara 'Dell' ta warden ma tara.... din it Triq kienet maghmula ghal bdiewa ...imma issa il Kunsill ta Xghajra per ezempju ried li it -trakkijiet b'materjal tossiku b'irwejjah li ma tissaportix li johorgu mill l-impjant ta' Barkat (10 kuljum) jghaddu minn go din it triq ta' 20 pied wisa.. issa jridu jwessawha u jahasra ma hemmx ghalfejn ghax diga tezizti triq lesta bi tarmac... Min se jaqbez ghad drittijiet taghna?

J. Camenzuli

Feb 17th, 15:35

Minkejja il-ftahir kollu,nahseb li il_kunsill lokali tal-Hamrun,vera kien dizappuntanti.Kaz per eccellenza hi triq fil-Hamrun li kellha titlesta bejn it-3 ta' Frar u il-11 ta 'Frar sa llum is-17 ta' Frar kull ma ghadhom ghamlu hu li kissru il-bankini,poggew pipe ta' l-ilma u giddmu kull m'hawn.Grieden kulliemkien ghax il-gullies tad-drainage kollha miftuhin u inkonvenjenti kbar ghan-nies,bosta minnhom anzjani biex johorgu minn go darhom.Minn fuq l-ghatba ghal got-tajn.Ma nafx kif ma giex Il-Kap ta' L-opposizjoni forsi jghidilna li dan hu ezempju ta ghaqal fit-tmexxija.

Daniel Debono

Feb 17th, 14:34

Swieqi Local Council.

Can anybody within the council enlighten me with what the law says about the distance that should be kept in parking away from a corner. In Swieqi we have double yellow lines painted in corners which vary in distance from one meter to fourteen meters. The latest one painted was in Triq il Keffa (fourteen meters) and a one and a half meter double line between two garages. (normally it is a yellow box). Some people call it corruption, others call it special previlages.....I just call it arrogance.
The second case of this arrogance is the speed traps (humps, sleeping policeman). A very valid and important hump (which also served as a pedestrian crossing) in Triq il Qasam. was removed a couple of years ago (just after the coucil was elected). A few months back another very valid hump was removed from Triq il Keffa. BUT, a little further down in Triq il Keffa, a very Scruffy chunk of tarmac (should be a hump) that serves as a water Dam when it rains, will not be removed even though many complaints have been logged with the council. Again......special previlage, corruption or Sheer Arrogance.

I better stop here as the list is endless. Parking is a big problem evreywhere, but in Swieqi the Council is making to remove any valid spaces available.

Marc Sant

Feb 17th, 08:32

Mr. Karl Abela might be right when he complained about the noise and the double parking and excessive speed of cars going through Dingli streets. However he was either maliciously barking up the wrong tree or does not know certain facts about what is being done from the local administrative side. The local council has been included in the Wardens` system since 2002 if not mistaken. That these rarely turn up is not the Councils fault. This shows that the system introduced by the Nationalist Administration did not work. The Police Force is also under the remit of the Ministry of the Interior.

Before coming up with the intended warping of facts about the roads he should know that the village roads were renewed by the local Council with only 30% of cost being contributed by the Central Administration.

MR K. Abela should stand by his cheek and question the accounts of the Local Council. These were never in the news and NO News is good NEWS.

The Dingli-Rabat road, which is in a mess, falls under the responsibility of the Central Administration. An example of the type of shoddiness of work can be seen and felt in the partly surfaced Panoramic Road. This was executed by the Malta Transport. It is not suitable for the lizards that roam there!!

On my frequent visits to Dingli I rarely see any waste bags in front of residences as early as Mr. Karl wants us to believe . If he sees any he should know what to do. I do not know what has kept him from airing his complaints at the offices of the Council like well intended citizens do.

I am certain that the Education of the Dingli citizens is an integral part of good management on the part of the Local Council.

Aaron Nind

Feb 16th, 20:40

I posted a complaint on the Haz-Zebbug (Malta) Local Council Facebook page regarding the current road hazards due to pot holes in Triq L-Indipendenza and not only was my post removed, I was blocked by the administrator !!

Someone doesn't 'like' me or we only reveal what we want to reveal .....

city busuttil

Feb 16th, 20:00

Sliema: a new council will have a lot of catching up to do. Who'd want to be in their shoes? Definitely more staff required to cope. Like other councils elsewhere, they should consider subsidising keep-fit classes. Also, look into EU projects to benefit our town. Residents must come first, not the business community.

Michael borg

Feb 16th, 19:27

I think my local council has failed in almost every corner and needs to change its members and also a new mayor will be healthy for my locality

Jonathan Camilleri

Feb 16th, 16:07

Sliema/St. Julian's Local Council - more than anything the road signs seems like a money-making scam with the €58 penalty imposed within an area saturated with cars of various makes, including those sported by those who can afford a Jaguar, or something of the like. One should promote Arriva routes to people working or travelling to the area a practical solution, by working on the traffic and parking problems.

Gzira Local Council - have you noticed any moonholes in Testaferrata street? Have you noticed any water under the bridge in Msida valley, by any chance?

Hamrun/St. Venera Local Council - one I drove my car to a pitfall accidentally, in Cannon road. For the sake of rain water, one only needs narrow slots, not military bunkers on the side of the road.

Birkirkara Local Council - inefficient, hostile and unfriendly Social Security clerks, and, representatives of the Employment and Training Corporation have driven me several times to frustration since they only "quote the rules" without attempting to emphatize or put themselves in my shoes when I was unemployed. If we employed compliance officers, we might as well replace them with rules-processing computers and help to reduce the cost of administrative wages that the Government has to pay. In the long term technology pays, doesn't it? Training in Customer Care is probably a waste of money, because we have all learnt our Ps and Qs at primary school, it was only a matter of using them. This reminds me of the golden rule somehow.

Saviour Aquilina

Feb 16th, 16:01

You see them give tickets in side street like one tyre be out of the white line...etcc, but main roads where there are load of traffic, NO WARDENS. Why? Afraid have contact with people?

M Grima

Feb 16th, 13:40

St. Julians local council would probably get first place for inefficiency and disregard. Try sending an e-mail message to the council and see whether you'll get an aknowledgement let alone a formal reply? The council is only interested in the area on the front and completely ignores the rest of the place, especially the Ta Giorni area for obvious reasons. Just recently they have even closed the kids park at Ta Giorni because some irresponsible idiots vandalised the place. The council or better still the major instead of opting to install CCTV cameras to safeguard the place from future vandalism went for the easy way out and closed the place. Can I ask where are our kids supposed to play during their free time. Moreover the state of the roads are extremely poor because as I said before the council is only interested to embellish certain areas only. All they do is patch up the holes, which again are done haphazardly, and expect the citizens not to complain. Just next to St. Julians all the roads falling under the jurisdiction of the San Gwann Council are all tarmaced. I really hope non of the councillors turn up at my door.

Rowena Scicluna

Feb 16th, 10:57

Swieqi LC = sleeping policemen. Now that the Local elections are near, they have removed one. As long as politics are involved, I don't think the LCs will do much good.

Sarah Ciappara

Feb 16th, 10:50

Siggiewi piazza traffic, parking & Saturday market absolute disaster!! This has been going on for years

Borg Joseph

Feb 16th, 09:08

Kull meta kelli x'naqsam ma xi kunsill Lokali dejjem sthajiltni qed nghix fit-teleserje 'Deceduti' bhala wiehed mill-fantasmi.

Dan kemm meta mort jien personalment, kemm meta baghat emails u anke bit-telefon.

Ghalkemm ma tistax tiggeneralizza u eccezzjonijiet, nahseb, jezistu, donnu li biex tinqeda u tiehu dak is-servizz li bi dritt hu tieghek mill kunsilli trid tkun taf lil xi hadd.... il-bqija tibqa issaffar.

Nahseb ukoll li dan huwa frott ta nies inkompetenti fit-tmexxija u l-imanigjar.

Harold Felice

Feb 16th, 08:48

Or take the Naxxar lc for instance; post anything to them on their site and you'll get an acknowledgement. And that's where it stops!

Giovanni Rizzo

Feb 16th, 07:11

Konna nghaddu minn ghajrhom. They are useless in many ways.

stephen koludrovic

Feb 15th, 21:46

I'm quite happy with our council in Floriana. The reason might be that being such a small town, and with an independent elected mayor, not tied to any political party, certain works do seem to get done.

Paul Portelli

Feb 15th, 19:27

siggiewi local concil is asking for our vote once again.what was done for the good of the siggiewi people?
wardens,fines,cameras,fines,education nill,lines al over without tm permits,and so on .and on and on

E. Zammit

Feb 15th, 18:50

Re: Local Council contraventions and fines.

Please allow me to refer you to this article:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111210/editorial/Electoral-gimmick-or-constructive-initiative-.397629 where, quoting " as Dr Said himself tacitly admitted when he highlighted that, since September this year, local councils were no longer directly responsible for the deployment of wardens, a task taken over by regional committees.".

Before you comment, please be aware that as from the 1st of September 2011, the delegation of local wardens in Malta has been passed on to the localities' respective regional committees. In short, the Local Councils are no longer responsible for employing the wardens. That means that all money collected from fines is not going to the Local Council's bank account anymore, but to the 5 regional committee's accounts.

Rita Galea

Feb 15th, 16:12

Mosta residents lc from bad to worst so the best thing to do no vote cause it is all a waste of time and money .

Steve Pace

Feb 15th, 16:05

Recent action taken in Old Railway Road Balzan against abusive parking slots in front of fake garages gained considerable points from me. Unfortunately we seem to still have people who think they have every right to stick a NO PARKING - TOW ZONE sign on any door which vaguely resembles a garage door , even if the same garage has weed growing all over and it is well known that behind the garage door is a store or junk room instead of a proper garage.

It took more then a year for such action to take place and numerous reports but finally the job was done a few weeks ago. The issuing of such signs should be controlled and although a person using such signs is subject to a fine, this law is not enforced.

Apart from this incident Balzan LC gains full points when it comes to village cleanliness and general administration .

Giov DeMartino

Feb 15th, 15:45

Fejnhom dawk it-taparsi nazzjonalisti li ma vvutawx ghax kienu ilhom snin shah igorru mill-kunsilli nazzjonalisti li kellna qabel? U fejnhom dawk l-imzazen li belghuha dik tal-handyman li kien qed jislohna? Il-kunsill prezenti mhux talli zammu bl-istess kondizzjonijiet talli qabbad iehor mieghu.Hadtu dak li kien haqqkom! Issa ghandkom ic-cans issewwu l-hsara li saret

Mr John Borg

Feb 15th, 15:34

I like it how the topic of Local Councils has been represented by the picture of a Warden clearing fining a vehicle. This is exactly why local councils exist.

Furthermore, this picture relates to the San Gwann area where the Warden parks himself for a whole day to that roundabout and earns his points for "Warden-of-they-year" award.

Mark Spiteri

Feb 15th, 15:24

Msida Local Council - a Flop. Council does not action any of the problems raised. LC staff do not even care to reply to emails sent by residents.
Go to Tal Qroqq area to see the total neglect of the area !

Kurt Magro

Feb 15th, 14:56

MOSTA LOCAL COUNCIL --- FAIL !

Mr Simon Mizzi

Feb 15th, 14:40

Mosta LC has definitely not lived up to the definition of what an LC should be about. It is dysfunctional to say the least. The residential roads and pedisterian walkways round Targa Gap Estate are a complete shambles. We recently had a bout of easily-swept-by-rain patching that adds insult to injury and is an indication that the grave road structural problems are no way near being a high priority albeit the situation is desperate. A shut up and put up attitude is what is in place where people are actually the lowest of priorities. A patch is not a fix - it is a patch - it is a temporary fix. Temporary is not good enough. I have yet to see a place in Europe lying in such a shambolic state of disrepair. I am always weary of elderly people that might somehow trip and get injured. It will happen - tempting fate. Management by crisis is what identfies the council and it is clearly poorly managed.

mario salnitro

Feb 15th, 14:29

Mario Salnitro from Sliema
What Local council where??
Veru we have a Local council??
You must be joking ?
No you are mistaken it is impossible we have a local council here in Sliema, just look at the derelict state Sliema is in !!!

Aaron Schembri

Feb 15th, 14:05

Very disappointed by the work done by the Zurrieq local council , which is trying as a last minute attempt to resurface certain parts of Vjal l indipendenza. Traffic managment was very poor while triq il valletta was being resurfaced ( done by central governament). The road infront of the petrol station desperately needs to be widened, and triq wied babu needs resurfacing as every time it rains the potholes are now turning into craters.

Reserved parking spaces are popping out every week and most of them do not have the disabled sign with the numberplate indicating which car should be parked there. A lot of rubbish cleaning needs to be done, especially in remote areas of the village. What about the Gibjun Garden project? what about embellishment projects ?

Kurt Magro

Feb 15th, 14:00

Mosta LOCAL COUNCIL ? WHAT LOCAL COUNCIL ? .... FAIL ! ... Pakistan is better then Mosta !

Roberta Buhagiar

Feb 15th, 13:25

Mosta Local Council is totally useless... I will be voting this time round in the hope that not the same people will be elected because they are totally absent to say the least!!

Ray Camilleri

Feb 15th, 12:56

The Mosta LC was absent to say the least. Come to Taz-Zokkrija HE and see the roads. Particular roads are so disastrous that one tries not to use them due to damage incurred to vehicles. In one case a one foot wide pothole was fixed but they failed to fix a 3 x 1 meter area over 20cm deep preventing access to private residences. As for cleanliness, maghtab road is cleaner.

Bernard Lynch

Feb 15th, 12:19

As a Councillor for Paola, it is interesting to read these comments.
If I may, funds from EU are carefully monitored and approved and accounted for.
Our Council always try our best to serve the residents of Paola to the best of our abilities.
Maybe sometimes we do not always manage to satisfy everyone but we always appreciate feedback and comments and suggestions, good and bad.
Our councillors are always available at any time, only a phone call away and suggestions on how we can improve our services will always be welcomed.
It has been my privelage to serve as a Councillor for Paola for these past eleven years and hopefully for more to come...To the people of Paola I would just like to say Thank You.
Bernard Lynch..Councillor.

M Abdilla

Feb 15th, 12:18

Speaking on behalf of Dingli, I think all will agree that our Local Council has done a very good job of improving the locality as a whole, including large projects which are very rarely taken up at the Local Council level. I have no complaints.

Ms.D. Galea

Feb 15th, 11:43

The local councils have also learnt the knack of gobbling up EU funds for this and that when they are available, and only God knows how the money ends up being spent anyway.

They are incompetent, corrupt, lazy, opportunistic, politically-motivated., they assume that constituents are a bunch of ignorant nincompoops who do not see through them and I wish that some official statistics will be published to show just how many of those in local councils are also employed directly or indirectly with the company operating the Warden system.

Edward Hughes

Feb 15th, 11:26

As a Vittoriosa resident, I cant complain about the work and dedication that the local council does for our small community. What does bother me though and i'm sure that what i have to say reflects a lot of others as well, is parking during certain days and times of the week. We place on our windscreen a logo provided to us from the council to declare that we are residence and are allowed to park, but...if it's a weekend and out sider's come to eat, obviously they take a parking space.

Now, there's nothing wrong with that because they have every right to, but at least, if i come home after a 15 hour shift, i do not expect to receive a ticket just because i'm not parked correctly! what about those people that have been parked there for more than 3 or 4 hours having dinner!!! "IF THATS GOING TO BE THE CASE, REMOVE THE DAMN SIGN THAT SAYS 2 HOUR PARKING FOR NON RESIDENCE".

Not that i want any one to get done for parking in front of my house, but at least...if there's a sign that is quite clear...cant the council obey it's own rule?!!

Charles Zammit

Feb 15th, 11:17

Here we go again the farce that is the Local Councils at least as far as Birzebbuga goes . The doors are being knocked by relatives of or potential candidates touting for votes .
The question arises . How safe are the Birzebbuga inhabitants ? The answer surely is clearly seen in the chaotic situation that has existed for years in the traffic sector . One can see Double parking everywhere . Parking on and near Zebra crossings , a case in point is the Church square , one takes a huge risk of using the Zebra crossing there .Yes we do have Double Yellow lines , but for what purpose ? Vehicles can be seen all over the village parked on these. Parking can be seen fan shaped on corners of crossroads , a case in point is the corners of St Rita Street with St Angelo Street a huge danger to drivers and pedestrians . This traffic situation has prevailed for years , I ask . What will the new elected Council do about this huge chaotic problem ?
I also ask Is it worth the bother of voting ? If the same chaos prevails in the future ?

Daniel Goggi

Feb 15th, 11:00

As a Sliema resident for almost 2 years now, I can very easily say that Sliemas local council has let me down in almost everything they did. Starting of from the eternal parking problem and to make things worse encouraging further problems by pedestrianalising here and there (or if not doing it themselves, supporting the idea is an equal crime) and by adding dozens of unused "MC" parking bays all over Sliema (in one instance a parking car space was conveniently turned into 2 MC parking bays and they are rarely used).

Another let down was the ridiculous new waste collection system.. It is extremely positive that in Sliema one can take out recyclable waste twice a week and I fully agree with it. The thing is that for this to happen, we had to give up 2 days of normal domestic waste collection rather than the usual one.. so from an extremely positive idea, comes out a not so convenient approach.

The other thing is the lack of proper regularisation of traffic near cranes, trucks, tower cranes etc... It is very easy for me to do a 1.5Km detour at any day of the week to get back home due to similar inconveniences... and of course to add insult to injury not find parking after all! There is one particular tower crane that has been obstructing a whole street (a narrow street but a street just the same) for a good number of years and the construction site has been at a stand still for an equal number of years. Is it possible that no one noticed this???

The local council, or if I'm not mistaken, the government should be proud of Qui-Si-Sana. At least Qui-Si-Sana is a very good idea and concept. For this project, who ever did this is to be commended for.. the question is: did the local council do it or the central govt?

Bizazza str. I will not bother comment about.. if you had to speak to shop owners or people who work there, and I happen to know one who does, they will tell you that sales stalled instead of going up, so not only did we create a problem for the residents and traffic flow but also (to a lesser extent to my concern but to a greater concern to the local economy) a problem for the shops (who were pro pedestrianalisation too!!).

Other than that, there are very few things one can comment on Sliema's Council.. all local news channels be it one side or the other, gave us a good picture, albeit a bit distorted depending on which side the TV station sides with on the crisis our local council went through, day after day, week after week, month after month.

I hope that in the coming term, more will be done for the Sliema residents and less to please the rest. Mellieha and Rabat local councils are a very good example of good working councils (with their defects too... but then again nobody's perfect).

Mario Pace

Feb 15th, 11:00

The Mosta LC was, not only incompetent but absent for the past years. Most of the housing estates are in a pitiful state, dirty, roads full of potholes and a general sense of lassaiz faire persists.

Maria Camilleri

Feb 15th, 10:12

The Attard LC is incompetent - one look around Attard and you can notice a total lack of planning, dirt and potholes. Their idea of development is cutting down trees and spreading concrete on public land.

Each day we battle with the rubbish strewn in our road, mud, holes and constant but CONSTANT digging, jigging and dust. Its disgusting.

Anthony A. Mifsud

Feb 15th, 08:03

Nothing much, just that they sneek in and trap you, I am not stating that I am a law breaker! but by just stopping and waiting in my vehicle, I get booked! what's all boils down to is pure day light robery.
I was docked €70 for not showing up in the tribunal for a parking ticket ? I was'nt even summond to the hearing and when I went to pay the renewal, I found a bill to pay.. Is this an answer to your question...
Tony

Richard Caruana

Feb 15th, 06:52

Luqa: One big mess; nothing for the Council to speak about in four years, except a few roads' surfaces paid by the central Government.

M. Attard

Feb 15th, 06:41

Why vote... its a waste of time. Show them that you care the less by not voting at all.

James Wightman

Feb 14th, 22:32

In the Bicycle Advocacy Groups survey of local councils in 2011 only 15% responded, even though the BAG group offered free advice and assistance in bicycling matters. Several even had email inboxes that were full and didn't even reply when contacted by post. If councils will not help themselves, (for instance 80% stated they had a congestion problem) when offered help, what sort of service can we expect.
Many make stupid mistakes,or have poor follow up - like having gratings that cause accidents, fix one and leave another untreated just down the road. Or Sliema's treatment of Bizassa street, banned cyclists and then diverted them down a steep poorly surfaced road (St Antnin) (i.e. poor due diligence).

Albert Fitez

Feb 14th, 21:41

Attard
Nothing special ever happens. However recycled rubbish is picked on Tuesday with normal rubbish not picked. On thursday it is worse as normal rubbish is not picked and only recycled paper is picked

david vella

Feb 14th, 21:28

Ghamlu bhali U bhal hafna NO VOTE ghax kollha jaduk b'zmien.

laurence fava

Feb 14th, 21:08

sannat local council the worst council in malta and gozo. looks like tripoli 3 months ago

Salvinu Buttigieg

Feb 14th, 19:43

Its bad enough looking at the picture above without hasstle us with voting, the Vultures are at it again, they should go outside permanently and dig holes or rather fill them up in the case of GOZO and malta. i bloody hate them or as we used to call#em in Aus. Brown bombers in Gozo the Vultures. \ratings NIL Pois.

Carmel De Gabriele

Feb 14th, 19:12

rubbish, won't vote as always, waste of money!

Jon Fenech

Feb 14th, 18:07

San Gwann Local Council

It seems only certain areas vote. The roads leading to Kappara are a mess including the ring road. You email the council and not even a reply. I'll be waiting for the potential candidates to call at my home.

Andre Grech

Feb 14th, 17:55

And I forgot to mention the roads in Sliema. They are a disaster. Not one road is tarmaced. Driving in Sliema guarantees back pain. Insomma most residentaial roads are a disaster all over Malta. The PN did not have enough time to do the roads of this tiny Island. It has only been in power for 25 years. If they win the election I guess the roads I drive through every day will remain in the present state or get worse. At this rate we need around 200 years to do all the roads. Shame on the government and shame on most of the local councils who use the money we tax payers pay badly. If the government uses the taxes they collect on vehicles to maitain the toads we will have enough money to resurface all the roads every year.

Andre Grech

Feb 14th, 17:47

I live in Sliema nad I can say that over the past years we had no council. Sliema has been taken over by contractors and tourists. Hotels are full of students who make the life of Sliema residents hell. The Hotel owners are fine with this and nobody stops this disturbance. They create unbarable noise and they litter the village. For the Local council this is fine. Its a simple nightmare. Garbage is on the pacements 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Everyone takes out garbage on days it is not collected and garbage is taken out after it is collected on the other days. There has to be a total change in mentality in this locality. Hotel owners have to control the residents and people have to be educated. I will definitely not vote for anyone who is in the council.

Mario Aquilina

Feb 14th, 16:26

The Mosta Local council was a disaster. Impossible to contact anyone by phone and little or no visible work done in terms of infrastructure. There is not even one single playground that is safe and accessible for children and many of the roads are a mess. What happened should shame both political parties, one for allowing petty in-fighting and the other one for trying to gain political mileage out of the situation. As usual, those who suffer are the citizens, who are then asked to trust the same political parties who let them down over and over again.

Carmel Attard

Feb 14th, 16:20

IKLIN LOCAL COUNCIL

On paper it's main priority is the safeguarding of the environment but unfortunately nothing was done to combat the heavy flow of vehicles passing through the core of the village causing a health hazard to all the residents living in the valley of IKLIN. Moreover infrastructurally the village is not up to scratch to put it mildly.
No open spaces have been created for the enjoyment of the families of IKLIN. As regards customer relations, I think they fared quite satisfactorily in my case. The promised multipurpose pitch has not yet materialised. The site selected for the Local Council project sacrifices the only open space available in this locality. I think a change is needed because this village can be transformed with some immaginative thinking into an upmarket residential area as the other part on higher ground. CARMEL ATTARD

David Galea

Feb 14th, 15:34

If not for the expenditure I suggest that the local council elections to be conducted every six months. Only in that way can we really get something from our counsils. Its true that certain counsils do everything in their power to help their local citizens but I am sorry to note that the majority lack this main issue.

Nathalie Gilford

Feb 14th, 15:15

Wardens = Fines ONLY!!!!!! especially in FLORIANA

Ms.D. Galea

Feb 14th, 14:31

Local councils are interested only in how much money they can garner from teh various fees they are allowed to levy on locals, and from wardens fines , espcially those who work part-time with the warden-system itself .They are never available when you really need them and you know it is election time when they start patching up roads, the wardens are no where to be seen and some one is set to touch up the paint on teh various marks made on the roads.
Bijhom u min ghajrhom xorta.

Mr E. Vella

Feb 14th, 14:15

Birkirkara.....a council...u ejja...true...there is one?....I only see signs of a local council only every 3/4 years, they seem to hibernate for all this time and come out on the 3rd or 4th year (now) by seeing our supposed representatives knocking on our doors, smiling and begging for our vote.... Complaining about illegal activities with all the car dealers around and no one raise a finger to stop all the illegal practices to the detriment of residents having to cope every day with all this....viva il PL viva il PN......halluna.....bla vot tibqaw la tasal elezjoni ohra.

Mr Stephen Baldacchino

Feb 14th, 13:59

Valletta Local council

The residents come first......... (especially the Hastings area)

The biggest laugh ever said.

it takes us 10-15 min to get home and another 10-15min to exit Valletta plus two months waiting for the resident parking permit...
AAA+++++++

Mr Stephen Baldacchino

Feb 14th, 13:33

Reading the comments hereunder you dont have an idea of the ordiels we go thrue us residents in Valletta.
especially the hastings area. to enter and exit valletta is a nightmare and time wasting, plus to get a parking permit you have to wait the CVA report that you actually sleep there, which will take one up to two months to get it and this is just the begining. imagine going home after work or any time of the day and have to wait an hour to go home.

Peppi grech

Feb 14th, 13:26

RABAT GOZO COUNCIL?
FANTASMA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PM Camilleri

Feb 14th, 13:05

The local councils are nothing more than training centres for aspiring politicians. They're a complete waste of money in my opinion and Malta did need not such local councils but an efficient centralised system.

Mr patrick mifsud

Feb 14th, 12:50

our local council have been sleeping for th epast 4 years. now they are doing something. The funniest thing is that the local council does not have any respect to the residents. A case in point is wied blandun. it is left there because the valley is on a border between Fgura and Paola. since it is on a border neither councils do anything about it because no votes can be won. wither you do it because you love your town/city or you do it for votes. come on a saturday and watch the strret cleaners sweeping till the sign Fgura and vice versa and the person cleaning the road makes sure that we does not go over by an inch on the paola side or fgura side. this is ridiculous, sometimes they even push the rubbish to the other side. as usual i will not vote for a council which takes care only for the pjazza(il kelma iggib hekk) because the paola sqaure is still a mess or the road where the mayor lives, the rest is abondoned. where on earth there is the local council building in a playground???

saviour visanich

Feb 14th, 12:28

One of the biggest blunders by the Nationalst Party, insisting to have counsellers under a poltical party ticket, with the PL having to adopt the same policy.

Joseph Calleja

Feb 14th, 12:02

I hail from the village of Siggiewi and proud of my local council being lead by the hands of Mr Musumeci. The only problem being that now we were made to suffer the stupid decisions of the local wardens. They are a chip of the old block, one false step and you are arrogantly fined. Thanks to the nationalist councillors we were made to suffer this blatant injustice. There was never the real need to introduce this measure in my locality. I shall remember this injustice when called to cast my vote. This time I will vote the other way. Apart from Mr Musumeci who is not standing for the election, in my humble opinion the rest are hopeless people, at best as the maltese goes (karawett).

Karl Abela

Feb 14th, 10:45

It is a fact that most Local Councils are run by Labour.

It is also a fact that most people are disgruntled by their local council.

Therefore it stands to reason that Labour in government will have the same dismal performance.

Lawrence Fenech

Feb 14th, 10:42

"Issa jekk trid ghahli gurnata u mur iggilidha mal-kunsill."

Mr John Borg

Feb 14th, 10:13

San Gwann????


The roads are all cart-ruts (possibly to try and mimic the ones left in San Gwann in prehistoric times).

Potholes are the depth of pots used by the catering business

The shoulder opposite LSD showroom is used as a parking bay even though numerous complaints have been made that cars should not park there.

The whole place is in shambles and you wonder whether the council members are actually from San Gwann since they obviously don't know what's going on around them

G Mangion

Feb 14th, 09:59

Mela there is a council at Floriana ???

W Cassar

Feb 14th, 09:52

The Mosta council get a big FAIL when it comes road maintenance in the area!

As a general comment Malta does not need councils but a proper central government !

Joe Scerri

Feb 14th, 09:45

B'kara is not on the list of those holding elections, but what I can say is that all e-mails to the council and the mayor have been ignored. I gave up voting for these bunch of incompetents a long time ago anyway.

Stephen Caruana

Feb 14th, 09:44

I live in Swatar Msida. The local council there does not exist, the only thing that is effective are the wardens that are being sent to give some fines and mind you not during school hours (the chaos at that time is permitted).

Marco Farrugia

Feb 14th, 09:40

Safi:
- Cannot complain about cleanliness, anzi, village always very clean.
- Organized some events for the public. Highly commended.
- Customer service at the office - excellent.
- Bulk refuse collector is the most arrogant person i ever encountered.
- Closed St. Paul's Street and isolated the village from the rest of the country (to add insult to injury, in a time when Karwija road was closed). Us residents had to drive our way through a narrow maze to arrive to our homes. Eventually road was re-opened. I wonder who is the roads engineer? Maybe some Cikku Zatat?
- Numerous, useless sleeping policemen.

M Cilia

Feb 14th, 09:39

LC Qormi.

It's 2012 and there is still drainage seeping out at the end of Triq l-Gharghar 1979, with all the inconvenience and health problems this creates. Only a 3 metre drainage pipe is needed to connect this overflow of drainage to the main drainage system. But no, this is the govenment's responsabilty, that's the only response we ever get when this issue is brought up!!!

And what about the trees opposite the same street. Once a tree dies or is cut or pulled up, the hole where the tree was is filled with concrete and therefore the number of trees has diminished throughout the years. Is it that difficult to plant another tree instead?

What about traffic lights, again in the conjunction between Mill street and Valley road? Nearly once a week we witness a car crash. When we ask for these the answer we get : no traffic lights here because of the flooding waters in winter. So one can find traffic lights in B'Kara Valley Road where floods do happen, but when it comes to this part of Qormi one is given such a lame excuse.

These are some of the problems the residents of this part of Qormi have brought up year after year. We don't want explanations and studies or promises anymore. We don't want a list of how much the LC Qormi has worked in many other areas of Qormi, which well and good. All we want is LC QORMI to tackle these problems a.s.a.p. in this area.

Valerie Calleja

Feb 14th, 09:14

The Sliema Council is useless...a waste of money.They have contributed to the appalling state of this town.The PN might have had a majority here in the past, but no more.

Joseph Eynaud

Feb 14th, 08:44

IT DOES NOT EXIST!!!!

Daniel Mercieca

Feb 14th, 08:19

the Bormla local council said they have no say over the building of this atrocious public convenience built right under the bastions, in the middle of a kids' park: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150492591267222&set=o.194958017193154&type=1&theater they could have been neatly hidden within existing shelters in the bastion walls, or built underground. when i enquired at the council they confirmed it's legal but still haven't hung the permits outside this convenience, as accordance with the law, in the last 4 months

Charles Grima

Feb 14th, 08:13

There is room for improvement obviously, but the Tarxien Local Council takes itself very very seriously, with members from both the PL and PN, and all striving for a common goal within our village.

If it was for me, the group we have know should be given a life statute... can't compain at all!

PS. To make matters clear....I have no family members with the Tarxien LC, nor do I receive any benefits or otherwise or have any affiliation with the LC.. just a satisfied villager!

FRANS H SAID

Feb 14th, 07:49

St Paul's Bay is like a litany of disaster.
The council offices have been moved to the far side with an impossible parking area.
500 parking slots have been lost, some due to the extended pavements
Ta' Fra Ben (a good project per se) has lost 250 spaces - as evinced by the previous notices.
Behind Dolmen Hotel there could be parking spaces for at least 200 cars, but it seems this is not in the opublic interest.
Bus service is the worse in Malta. The removal of routes 49 & 58 has left the aged prisoners in the homes.
On the ev of the election, roads are now, finally, being done.
One way streets are not introduced and where introduced are in the wrong direction - Fr Calleja Street (previously) Upper Conversion Street has just been done in the wrong direction which entails driving all round bugibba to go to the other side.
Dawriet il-Gzejjer can only be used on the whim of the Council, but drivers have to drive to residential areas.
Desguanez Street has been left half done.
Behinf the St Paul's Chapel there is a chain in which at least 3 aged persons have fallen - The place is in darkness.

BUT the ex minister, father of the Mayor, boasts that he goes out at night to supervise and find out what is wrong - being dark he never sees anything wrong.

DIRT galore, dog dropping even in areas where dogs should not be taken, in front of private house, no regular sustem in the collection of garbage, known (and I mean known by name) individuals who leave their garbage bag outside for more than 20 hours have never been taken to task
In the main road haphazard parking is allowed but during church service, the wardens appear like cockroaches to issue parking tickets - and this a govt of sensitive concince that opposed the referendum but drives people away from the Sunday Mass

I feel this gives an idea, but thgere are far more. This is what comes from having a child as a mayor.

Daniel Mercieca

Feb 14th, 07:49

the state of these historical gems along the cottonera lines only question if these cities have local councils at all! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150786726812222&set=o.194958017193154&type=1&theater

John Scerri

Feb 14th, 07:46

Had one to analyse LC performances one would first and foremost verify if the necessary Training was given, Monitored and Updated in order for all LC members including the mayor to function properly.

A Local Council is in itself a business entity providing a service to the community.

Training in Communication, Teamwork, Proactivity, Efficiency, Customer Care, Management. Does this exist?

In my humble opinion I would suggest ETC to organise courses for Prospective and Present LC members in this respect.

To date this has not been done and the success of a Local council today depends on how lucky it would be to have among the team a person capable in human relations and communication.

Whatever qualifications one might have achieved during one's acedemic years will not automatically make one an ideal candidate to become an LC mayor or administrator of tax payers' money.

In every aspect training is needed.....

The great majority of LC members do the work for free....This is wrong .

The least the Government ...any Government could do is train them how to do their work in a most efficient manner using the latest available technology .

LCs should not be MLP,PN,AD ...they are a Team and as a team MUST work together to reach a common goal.

Hence all candidates should contest the elections on their own merit to avoid block voting which will in turn result in a waste of time and money as we have already experienced within some LCs

I repeat what I stated some time ago ....13 local councils representing 13 electoral districts with 13 LC members and a mayor would be enough for Malta and Gozo.

In this manner there will be better monitoring of expenditure and resources and one will also afford to give remuneration to all LC members for doing their job as a motivating tool.

No one likes doing work for nothing .....and in the end ...to add insult to injury .....one is criticised negatively for doing work ...this is very unfair .

Local councils are not an extension of the Government with all the burocratic procedures existing within ...LCs should make it easy for the client (citizen) to achieve what should be his or her rights in a more efficient and fast manner.

Daniel Mercieca

Feb 14th, 07:43

The Birgu local Council is doing great at closing historical venues to the public. The 1st excuse for closing the ditch gardens from their offices to Kalkara was junkies. Now it's restoration. The gardens have been closed for 3 years now! Another vile action was allowing the birgu waterfront/kalkara coast road to be only accessible to the privileged newly built apartment owners, just outside fort st angelo, a road the public could access since 4ever. other unresolved issues include the closure of the public bay & surrounding area below fort st. angelo, part of which is said 2b selling for private investment. other issues are mentioned in this forum: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150776624472222&set=o.194958017193154&type=1&theater

Steve Sant

Feb 14th, 01:17

Too little too late, no one trusts them.

Chris Sammut

Feb 14th, 00:03

I personaly have'nt voted for ages and ages in the local council elections. It's just because of one reason! It's all politics and people don't want to learn that you vote because you trust that that candidate if elected will do his/her best for your locality. What people think first is that as long as he's with the party they support then that's all fine and well. And that is wrong. We elect local councils so they serve us in the locality we do live and also see our locality gets what it really deserves! Time for change in Luqa please. Don't care if they elect from Labaour of Nationalist party as long as we have new fresh faces that indeed want lour village get better. Time for change!!

Ralph Mangion

Feb 13th, 23:20

Local council ? What local council ? Is there a local council in Siema or is this a joke ??

J.C. Borg

Feb 13th, 20:28

I know we have a Local council only because, sometimes, I see a local Warden booking car drivers.

Ro Attard

Feb 13th, 19:53

well shall we say friends of friends DO exist and for such reasons some Reserves Parking slots are issued/ maintained for no valid reasons.

And now that the time for elections is near ,they are doing like three roads all in the same time and organising most of activities.

Seriously need some more wardens !! Incredible but True some also park on STOP signs and no tickets are being issued !!

I think they seriously need to pull their socks up !!

Paul Portelli

Feb 13th, 19:39

siggiewi local council has made several traffic lines without a permit and then t m after complains made the situation back to normal.i ask where there ticket given to citizens that lines where not according to law?how will these individuals be compensated?

Francis Farrugia

Feb 13th, 19:32

Lill ta` San Pawl Il-Bahar, nergghu nivvutawlhom kollha, ghaliex ghalihom ghamlu bicca xoghol tajba hafna. ic-caqilqu mic-centru ta` San Pawl u spiccaw KWAZI?? IX-XEMXIJA, biex il-publiku jilhaqhom anqas u jkollhom cans jorqdu izjed.........

Ms Maria Williams

Feb 13th, 19:24

I feel Local Councils should help to educate the people in their locality. At a time when countries all over the world are realising the cruelty of keeping wild animals cooped up in small cages in circuses and when even the Church's Environmental Commission has spoken about this, every Christmas my Local Council (Santa Lucia) organises an outing to the Circus and then boasts about it in the Council's news letter. Although individuals have to decide for themselves whether to go to the circus or not, as an animal lover, I find it completely inappropriate for the Council to organise this activity.

Ms Maria Williams

Feb 13th, 19:22

I feel Local Councils should help to educate the people in their locality. At a time when countries all over the world are realising the cruelty of keeping wild animals cooped up in small cages in circuses and when even the Church's Environmental Commission has spoken about this, every Christmas my Local Council (Santa Lucia) organises an outing to the Circus and then boasts about it in the Council's news letter. Although individuals have to decide for themselves whether to go to the circus or not, as an animal lover, I find it completely inappropriate for the Council to organise this activity.

Mark Vella

Feb 13th, 19:15

Provide Solutions to Parking Spaces in St. Paul's Bay!!

Most bars take up 2 parking spaces, to put some tables in the summer months! Most Bars then close down! and the parking spaces are not given back to us residents. The wardens are happy issuing tickets....

Also reserved parking spaces, should be policed to check that reserved parking spaces are really used for what they applied.

We lost 12 parking spaces in a matter of 3 weeks here! Its a hell to park in Winter, let alone in Summer........

J Craig

Feb 13th, 18:59

Gharghur Local Council did really well. Apart from the village being very clean, all roads and alleys in the village were resurfaced and are in excellent condition. Many activities were organised such as Milkfest and the walk to the cave. This council should lead as an example for all the rest. Well done to all the councillors especially to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor! http://youtu.be/FcU0Ii9Lf-8

Steven Brockwell

Feb 13th, 18:43

dont know why we bother with them, they are all just run by people with no management or planning experience.

Henry S Pace

Feb 13th, 18:30

As if our LC never existed and aind if ever there was one they were non existent.

This locality is for the few who go nagging to have a reserved parking bay in front of their respective residences. Such 'reserved' parking bays are given to healthy people.
the Councillors have a rainchild and nothing more.

Karl Abela

Feb 13th, 18:08

Bring the wardens back to Dingli!! It’s a jungle…

1. The place is noise polluted from dirty pick up trucks literally flying at full speed over sleeping police.

2. Drivers going around town at break neck speed and make their presence felt by hooting the life out of the horn, whatever time of day it is.

3. Double parking on bus stops, and the inevitable blockage caused to buses and other traffic (yes, tiny Dingli actually manages to create traffic jams).

4. The popular football, political parties and band clubs regularly producing drunk hooligans shouting and roaming the streets in the early hours of the morning.

5. Residents dumbing rubbish bags 3 or 4 hours before collection, and inevitably attracting dogs and cats scavenging for food and the remains lying all over the place.

But the local council thinks that all is well just because it organizes a few social activities which I really don’t give a toss about.

Cheekiness at its best is when the council erects billboards claiming they built new roads, whilst the broken roads are the government’s responsibility. I ask myself, where did the local council get the money from for these roads?

Marija Gauci

Feb 13th, 18:06

If I have to say someting about the Birzebbugia one I will definitly want younger councillers not only pensioners

S. Caruana

Feb 13th, 18:03

XXxx Oqghodu kwieti ghax tqajjmu 'l-Kunsill Lokali ta' Haz- Zabbar.

Peter Murray

Feb 13th, 17:22

The clear lack of response to residents correspondence is highly, yet unaccountably, prevalent throughtout all Local Councils,for is an arrogant and disrespectful attitude to adopt and cultivate from people who are purportedly in place to serve and protect and act as a conduit for the government,with the massive paucity of actual demonstrable action sadly being a mirror-image of the government's performance .

Carmel Farrugia

Feb 13th, 17:10

The Slliema Local Council is a waste of public money and it has been so from the very begining. We have not had one decent council since the start. The PN has too large a majoity in the town and this give the PN mayors a sense of security. It had better if the government appointed a civil servant to run the day to day duties that have been evolved to local council and save money on all the rest. When local councils started the first Mayor Mr Arrigo had written that the largest problems for Sliema were: 1) parking 2) cleanliness 3) building projects all over the place. Well after all these years these same problems still haunt us with no improvement whatsoever.