Stabbing incidents in Paceville, including cases in which victims are left fighting for their lives, are not unusual. The latest occurred just days ago when six people were injured, two of them - a Dutchman and a Libyan – seriously, in a frenzied flick knife attack.
These instances rightly raise concerns about safety and violence in the entertainment mecca. In the latest case, public reaction was fiercer because the alleged assailant was a foreigner and enjoying “subsidiary protection status” as anasylum-seeker. A firestorm of speculation – and hysteria – led to some even labelling the incident an act of terrorism and bloating the number of victims.
The Minister for Home Affairs acted commendably quickly to ensure that the police stepped up the level of security in Paceville and so allay people’s fears and ensure the many young people who congregate there feel safe.
But, rather than taking stop-gap measures, the minister and the police must do something long-term to deal with Paceville’s endemic problems of lawlessness. The police were quick to blow their own trumpets when they arraigned what is alleged to be an organised group of burglars, even saying as many as 30 officers had been specially assigned to catch the perpetrators. They were not as forthcoming after the Paceville flick knife attack and only the minister accepted to face the public.
The heart of Paceville is only about a quarter of a mile square. It is smaller than Soho in London but probably packs as much entertainment, restaurant, shopping and residential facilities as any other mecca of fun. The pressure on residents living there is extreme.
The raw crime statistics of drunkenness, petty theft, rowdiness, misbehaviour, fisticuffs and worse do not begin to describe the squalid picture on the ground. The problems in Paceville stem from organisational inadequacies and lack of law enforcement. The need to bring some sort of order and structure to the way it is managed and controlled is essential.
Balancing the needs of residents who live there with those who run commercial establishments and whose livelihoods depend on it are admittedly difficult to re-concile. There are many fingers in the organisational pie: the local council, the Malta Tourism Authority, the police, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association and the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprise - GRTU, to name but a few. Yet, nobody appears to be in overall charge.
Perhaps it is time the Minister for Tourism took a leadership role. He is best placed – and resourced - to do so.
However, more important even than organisation is law and order. This has been the weak link for far too long. It is obvious that the district police, based at Spinola Bay, are too thin on the ground and inadequately trained to deal with the kind of spontaneous, drink-fuelled incidents which occur regularly.
It is time for a properly-trained and sizeable police presence to be deployed in Paceville on a nightly basis not only to nip any trouble in the bud but also to provide a reassuring presence there for residents and visitors alike. Their presence must be felt, which means that, rather than having a big group of policemen sticking together in one place, officers are split in beats that cover all the areas there.
The use of CCTV cameras throughout the many hotspots of Paceville to obtain better intelligence – constantly monitored, ideally by the police, rather than used to file reports later – and the deployment of police in plain clothes are also needed.