It seems I’ve become extremely unpopular with the Sliema and St Julian’s local councils who reckon I have no business criticising their modus operandi. Apparently I have never walked a mile in their shoes.
I suppose it’s all linked to shoe-size – one’s point of view I mean. And op-ed columnists are no exception. I have never walked in the Prime Minister’s shoes, Leader of the Opposition’s, Transport Minister’s, or anyone else’s. But that has never prevented me from being critical. I write what I think, while doing my level best to get the facts right.
You see, more often than not, people don’t know how their governments or local councils function (or don’t). But if they’re public-spirited they do expect a council to represent the general good. It’s on that assumption that they vote. This small detail bestows the right to speak out and be heard.
And if residents feel angry and hard-done by, they have a right to complain without having to apply any ‘constructive’ or ‘politically correct’ filters. It’s not their immediate concern that the council is running on empty, its resources too thinly spread by central government.
Yes, the councils have their own demons and in-house issues, but those can’t be used as a stick to shoo residents away. The pretext that the councils can’t do anything because their hands (and purses) are tied simply won’t wash. Besides, where else can residents go? Why have a local council at all if they can’t express their legitimate daily concerns? Should residents complain elsewhere (but where?) or, worse, keep schtum?
The fact that councils are scandalously underfunded cannot, I’m afraid, afford them automatic immunity. That central government uses them as a scapegoat for its many shortcomings (and high-rises!) and continues to ignore their valid protests, is undeniable. I question why the councillors stick around, but perhaps that’s me being defeatist.
Yes, the government has a lot to answer for. When you consider that this year the Siġġiewi council, a non-tourist village with 8,500 residents, received almost €100,000 more than the St Julian’s council – a prime tourist destination which accommodates 25,000+ people in the summer – you see where the problem lies.
I suggest they pull together, despite the funding anomalies and irrespective of party politics. They must discover their collective ‘clout’…
Incidentally Birkirkara, Birżebbugia, Marsascala, Mellieħa, Mosta, Naxxar, Qormi, Rabat, St Paul’s Bay, Valletta, Żejtun, Żabbar, Żebbuġ and Żurrieq are all (clean?) streets ahead of St Julian’s in annual funding. And how can St Julian’s cope with an annual budget of €655,000 when Nadur, a non-tourist hamlet in Gozo (population 4,500), is allocated €433,000?
It’s no wonder that Sliema and St Julian’s are sinking in litter. The bottom line, quite simply, is that rats keep turning up on doorsteps, roads are perennially filthy, and cleaners nowhere to be seen. No one is blaming the individual councillors. But sweeping the dust and litter under the carpet and pretending it isn’t there won’t do either.
They say that everything comes in threes, so, after taking two councils to task, it’s perhaps a good time to talk about Ta’ Xbiex. Friends who live there assure me that living in Sliema and St Julian’s is a picnic by comparison. They have to contend with excessive noise – blaring music and hysterical shrieking from the Luna Park on Manoel Island for three long sleepless months in summer. Not even closed apertures and air-conditioning (a luxury many can’t afford) are a refuge.
I find all this unacceptable and quite extraordinary. You see, my one experience with the Ta’ Xbiex council was not, I’m afraid, auspicious. As a non-resident, I was co-ordinating a removal and dutifully applied to the council, thinking it would be a cinch.
As Maltese streets go, the Ta’ Xbiex sea front is unusually wide, and a lifter can co-exist quite peacefully with passing traffic without a warden. But – you’ve guessed – the council refused to entertain my request (7.30am coincided with rush hour). So I was given the run-around and told to apply to Transport Malta.
After lots of to-ing and fro-ing, Transport Malta came through and I was assigned an officer who stood there quite uselessly during an otherwise painless move.
I was reminded of this over-zealousness last weekend when there was no management of traffic in Sliema/St Julian’s at all, despite many roads being closed to traffic. Police barriers suddenly appeared but no police – not even a Transport Malta officer.
This madness, designed to accommodate the Balluta feast, continued for three whole days, during which roadworks in Kappara and diversions made matters worse. But this recipe for chaos didn’t seem to rouse the councils or Transport Malta. Because it’s only when you need a lifter for an hour that a social conscience suddenly emerges.
We can all tell stories (and soon, storeys) like this. Yes of course we live in an imperfect world, but councils are not cut-price side-shows. A lot of the good they do is unfortunately overshadowed by irksomeness. They could do an invaluable job improving our quality of life – and earn our perpetual gratitude and admiration.
So I suggest they pull together, despite the funding anomalies and irrespective of party politics. They must discover their collective ‘clout’ and negotiate robustly with central government – easier said than done, I know.
They have more in common than they think – the people’s mandate, for one, to provide a high level of services and amenities. As well as clout, they will need guts – a readiness to be unpopular with the littering, anti-social sort of people they may be loath to tell off to their faces.
From here, I salute the Sliema council for doing their utmost to oppose the impending 38-storey high-rise Sliema tower, scandalously approved by the Planning Authority. I sympathise with their desperation and impotent rage, whatever they may think. I do.
I also think Transport Malta are doing a marvellous job with the Kappara project: diversion route, traffic flow, et al.
It’s not all gloom and doom, you see. Good planning pays.
michelaspiteri@gmail.com