As a local councillor, I know that one of the things that really irritates residents is lack of law enforcement. As a citizen, I am also amazed that certain situations persist in our country.
While everyone acknowledges that civic discipline is not one of our strengths as a nation, proper law enforcement would go a long way towards rectifying many undesirable situations.
Let me give some examples, starting with traffic. The traffic problem is a complex one, and no one factor can be singled out as contributing to it. However, have we stopped to think how selfishness is making things worse?
Every morning when I drive to work, I pass through a busy locality. Traffic is always held up near a pastizzeria as drivers stop to buy cheesecakes, blocking the road.
The same story is repeated near a certain newsagent, where selfish motorists park in the middle of the road, switch on the hazard lights and enter the shop to buy their daily newspaper.
It is incredible that such practices have become part of the daily routine in this part of Malta due to lack of law enforcement.
I hardly need to mention the behaviour of some deliverymen, who think they own the road. Sometimes they park their vans in the middle of the road, even when there are empty parking bays. And they do so with impunity.
What I find particularly scandalous is that local council members sometimes defend such people and their behaviour. I have been at meetings where even mayors of certain localities complain because local wardens do their job. They bring up the very lame excuse that such wardens are hindering business in their locality. In my opinion, this is shameful. Do we reflect enough on how many hours of work are lost because people get stuck in traffic?
Law enforcement is one of the few areas where a more sustained effort is needed
Absolutely condemnable is the practice of using a mobile phone while driving. I was appalled to read what Police Inspector Sandro Camilleri, president of the Police Officers’ Union, said about the reaction of motorists booked for such offences. This includes verbal abuse directed at police officers and accusations that Malta is being turned into a police state.
Does punishing someone for breaking the law mean we are living in a police state? Of course not. It means we live in a civilised country where laws are meant to be respected and transgressors are punished. After all, laws are there for the greater benefit of society.
Turning to a different aspect of the problem of law enforcement, I cannot fail to mention the problem of smoking in public places. Sometimes, I believe it is better not to enact a law than legislation that is more honoured in the breach than in the observance. Why do we still enter certain clubs and find people smoking and flouting the law with utter impunity? At times, the barman himself is smoking under a ‘No smoking’ sign!
Given that today everyone is conscious of the dangers of passive smoking, it is regrettable that some selfish people are getting away with ruining the health of others because of a lack of law enforcement. Again, I don’t want to hear the very poor excuse that proper enforcement of the law would be bad for business. Are we going to put commercial interests before people’s health? There are cases where people even smoke in the presence of very young children in public places. When will this abuse be stopped once and for all?
I come now to the problem of noise, where we Maltese excel. I have been writing for many long years about this, yet noise pollution remains rampant. This is indeed an area where the law needs to be applied more vigorously on a daily basis.
The list of breaches is endless: loud music played at a time when it is not permitted, use of power tools during the hours of rest on Sundays, car audio systems piping music so loud the vehicle becomes a ‘mobile disco’, and more.
Everybody agrees that Malta is a noisy country, but we need to enforce the law if we are to avoid it becoming even noisier.
More law enforcement is also needed to stop the illegal use of public land for personal gain. It is incredible how certain people have, over the years, turned tracts of public land into their own personal property.
VAT fraud is another shameful case. When enquiring about the price of a particular service, it is still common today to be confronted with the question: VAT included or not?
It is obvious better law enforcement is a must. The present government has been very successful in almost all areas of the country’s administration. Law enforcement is one of the few areas where a more sustained effort is needed.
Desmond Zammit Marmarà is a Balzan Labour councillor and an educator by profession.