Foreign students ‘soiled’ St Julians

Darren Cilia

Jul 31st 2012, 14:08

These students are really taking the piss now... I have nothing agains them going out and have fun, but at least act decent.

They are suppose to come here to study, but I wonder how they manage as they are still out drunk early in the mornings and then they go to school? I dont think so!!

I am sure they will not even dare to do such things they do here in their own countries.
Last time I had my car parked while I was at work and left the sunroof a bit open coz of all the heat, and when I returned I found pieces of watermelon they threw through the sunroof on the seats.

Something has to be done ASAP.....

I think that the people in charge should set a time for them to return to their residence. If they are late they will be punished by spending 2 nights in and if done again they should be sent home on the next flight out..

D Agius

Jul 30th 2012, 18:54

I host students, and the schools often remind us that we should report students coming home late, first of all i want to point out that in my opinion the rioter are the students who resides in either hotels or apartments where no one seems to be accountable! secondly i would like to recount an incident that happened to me a couple of weeks ago, we woke at 1.30 to find that a student has not returned home, i called his mobile, but without an answer, the same with the leader mob no! At 5.30 i woke again and still the students was not at home, at about 6.30 i heard the door open and after 10 mins i got up from bed to check what was the matter, only to find the students fast asleep on the bathroom floor, i got him up, and it was clear that he was not in himself, i called the school to report him, within 24 hours the student was transported, but i was left with nothing not even the payment, next time i think with my head, and i told them so at school!

C Cassar

Jul 30th 2012, 17:47

Nicky Pillow, owner of Lulu Restaurant in Church Street, said "I try to embellish the area and they uproot the plants, squash and throw them on the streets, even pulling them off the railings and smashing them,".

Well Mr Pillow, you've put huge planters in the street outside your restaurant and blocked the street to all traffic. These should be immediately removed so that traffic can flow as it did over 3 years ago along Church Street. No sympathy from me or many others while you selfishly keep all traffic away fro passing your establishment.

GL Calleja

Jul 30th 2012, 16:57

Who cares what these foreign students do as long as we make a bundle of money from them. Don't blame the students entirely, but also blame the schools who are making tons of money and should be responsible for these students in the first place. Again this is pure vandalism and should not be tolerated by our authorities.

Paul@ Micallef

Jul 30th 2012, 14:02

Paceville became like a jungle with wild animals roaming around. The civil authorities must take immediate action to stop this behaviour before someone takes the opportunity and becomes the Dark Knight or a vigilante.

Fran Abela

Jul 30th 2012, 12:58

I do not really believe that the foreign students come to Malta to learn English - they are coming in droves because of the laissez-faire attitude of the island. They consider it just one big playground and are misbehaving in a way they would never do in their own country. Are these students really contributing to the island's economy, except of course to fatten the coffers of the English language schools. Some might say that these are tourists - tourists my foot - we can well do without the unruly ones. In countries where foreign students outnumbered locals there has been trouble and the standard of the country lowered so much so that the bona fida tourists are now starting to look at countries where there are not so many foreign students. I must be fair though and say that not all of them behave like this, but the only thing to do is just send back home the unruly ones, the minute they cause trouble. Unfortunately we are giving the impression that anything goes in Malta and that is why they behave in this manner. Also the attire of some of them (not on the beaches) leaves much to be desired - surely they do not attend school dressed or undressed in this way. Can Malta decide on a limited number of foreign students or do we have to go on accepting foreign students just to increase the number of tourists coming to Malta ?

Debbie Toson

Jul 30th 2012, 12:48

I do hope the Minister of Tourism is aware that these students actually deter tourists from revisiting the island. They run riot in hotels and there is no way of knowing when you book holiday accomodaiton that they take students in.
They are clearly not supervised and I do wonder what financial benefit they bring to the Island after taking into account the cost of clearling their mess in the streets and on the beaches.

Reno Spiteri

Jul 30th 2012, 12:41

It goes without saying that language students in Malta provide a huge business to the schools, the host families, hotels, as well as enertainment locations as Paceville, and consequently the authorities are not really inclined to enforce restrictions on them, unless they go for a a harmelss skinny dip at 4 a.m.

The only way to control these young persons is simply to catch them in the act or to recognize them through cctv cameras and those caught causing these damages should be arraigned and fined a huge fine, one to make good for damage caused, second for the inconvenience and third becaus they might have broken some law. Make host families and hotels post notices on their premises stating tha students caught causing any type of mischief would be fined not less than Eur1000 for each offence.

A. Sciberras

Jul 30th 2012, 12:40

The same situation pertains to Sliema, Msida and Gzira. The area next to the national pool in Msida/Gzira has become horrendeous - rubbish bags are left out overnight or in the scorching sun, alcohol bottles and cans are left on walls and in the middle of the street, sometimes on purpose, along with rotting fruit and fast food boxes attracting all type of pests. I am sorry MTA - but you are failing miserably - just because you 'invest' in getting more students to increase the 'tourist' volumes does not mean your job is being done. The English schools just ignore calls about the situation and just continue encourgaging friction between locals who want their environment to be respected and students who do not care about anything but just having a holiday.

salvatore muscat

Jul 30th 2012, 12:16

its time to ban this rotten business from our islands,the schools responsable dont give a damn,so something s got to happen

A Camilleri

Jul 30th 2012, 12:12

i worked with these students and they are not worth havin on the island, the schools are not botherd what happens as long as they get the money, how can students attend lessons when they are still out drinking at 5am, one more thing, when any student ends up in court they always seem to get a caution or a suspended sentence.

Pierre Micallef-Grimaud

Jul 30th 2012, 12:01

Residents in Paceville are now fed up with most foreign students. They are disgustingly disturbing the peace practically all day and night. Throwing bottles and refuse and spitting at people from balconies, vandalizing signs, pots and anything they come across in the street. They return to their rooms at 4, 5 or 6 AM shouting singing and arguing loudly. These students are not being educated at all. Their parents just pay their expenses for a holiday and nothing more. Their school leaders or representatives, although being paid for their work, are never seen around to check on these shortcomings. Are they waiting for some argument to take place where perhaps a few people might end up in hospital? The police usually patrol the upper part of Paceville on weekends but I would suggest that frequent patrols are held between1 and 5 AM especially near one particular hotel in Church Street where Italian enjoy offending Spanish students and vice-versa. This happens from different balconies inside the same hotel and early morning. I have personally experienced a “miss” after some idiots threw eggs at tourists in the street and almost hit them on their heads. I reported them to the hotel security but after a few days, they seemed to start all over again. Such students should be sent out of the hotel but obviously, the management would consider this as a loss.

O. Grixti

Jul 30th 2012, 11:57

Why these students are outside alone without supervision during the evening, I already saw them a number of times drinking in bars and later they go around the town and make noise, these are minors. How can they wake up and attend their lectures?
Schools and host families must be responsible for them.

I already had to call Naxxar police station twice (once at midnight and the other time at 2am) in a week to come and stop these students from making noise and possible vandalize the playing field (they had French accent); I would like to thank the police for their prompt response.

We are not on holiday, we have to work in the morning, these students are being rude with our hospitality, and schools must be responsible for their time.

John Scerri

Jul 30th 2012, 11:26

Enough is Enough.

Authorities MUST enforce the total restriction on students of any age from buying and drinking alcoholic drinks. Authorities must send Police of a well built and physically fit stature to monitor surroundings and not individuals who are much shorter than the students themselves.

There must be total prohibition for foreign students of spirits including all wines throughout the whole Islands , including supermarkets, bars restaurants .

Any students caught or reported drinking or even spot checked and found having made use of spirits will be sent back to their native country.

The English language Schools must also be held responsible for damage and must contribute a percentage of their income from students to make up for any claimed damage.

Mr J Grech

Jul 30th 2012, 11:24

"Students".......lol....do they REALLY need to come to Malta to learn English??? Or it's just a very stupid excuse?

Aren't there any English language schools in their countries???

"Students".....LOL.....

E. Azzopardi

Jul 30th 2012, 11:16

I say it again. We need more supervision on our roads and streets. After all, it is the CITIZENS' right for this and as has been stated, the CITIZENS should not beg for what is theirs by right, but just get it and within reasonable time. Now we have been waiting for this for ages. And that is not reasonable. But then what has been very reasonable lately?

Joe Morana

Jul 30th 2012, 11:00

What is being reported here is nothing new. The Times features articles and readers' letters on this sort of behaviour year in year out! It is true that the Police cannot cope with the numerous incidents that occur on any one night, and Heaven knows that those responsible for hosting such riff-raff are not going to assume responsibility; They never have! What's new? It is high time that residents in areas affected by such unruly behaviour form vigilante committees and make citizen's arrests!

Incidentally, are public intoxication and vandalism not criminal offences in Malta? A few somewhat harsh public service sentences meted out to 'deserving' culprits should be an example, and drive home the message!

Mauro Formosa

Jul 30th 2012, 10:39

In my openion the problem is there are not enough police in the streets. I work in the heart of paceville mostly during night time. I see around 30 police stationed by their cars and vans in the middle of the main square where nothing spechial really happens, and once in a while they go into the pubs to catch people smoking inside. Police have to be scattered around the side streets of paceville during the night till morning, and mostly in the morning as that is when the vandalism happens. Usually police pack up at 4:30, at 9:00 there are still drunken people coming out of the underground pubs. The situation is going from bad to worse every summer.

Anthony Camilleri

Jul 30th 2012, 10:33

We never learn, the most important is that we add these irresponsible students to our number,so they can boost our numbers, and the government will say that we have new records in tourism.They are only doing harm and vandalism.They only spend few euros and don't have a lot of money to spend.What about our laws? Is it fair for our police to take to court these vandals and get out free.We don't need PROBATION or SUSPENDED SENTENCES, we want that they pay the fines,for what they've done.If you do these things in Spain or England and get caught, I am sure that you have to pay for the damage and they will teach you a lesson.I've seen this happening in Spain.

John Citizen

Jul 30th 2012, 10:17

And of course those who manage the English Language Schools will soon come forward in defence of their supposedly educated and supervised students......

Pauline Peterson

Jul 30th 2012, 10:17

What about residents in the area, if they can see these things happening in their street, take a photo of these louts. Also their families should be forced to pay for damages.

People like these should also have a note put in the Airports computers, and not be allowed in again for 3 years.

J Degabriele

Jul 30th 2012, 10:13

Is this why these students come to Malta?

Paul Azzopardi

Jul 30th 2012, 09:41

If there is so much vandalism and the police are too busy to handle it..why doesn't anyone set up a night watch group which should be focused on none other than vandlism to residents properties and vandism in general. This group should be financed by the businesses enjoying the spoils of summer who should rightfully contribute to something that will be a help to them and the residents.

Victor Rodenas

Jul 30th 2012, 09:30

Students caught vandalizing should be sent home the next day.