Maltese friendliness and the willingness to help others is a trait that, for decades, served as a tag-line for the tourism industry, feeding on St Luke’s documentation – in chapters 27 and 28 of the Acts of the Apostles – of St Paul’s coming to Malta, in which he describes the natives as showing “unusual kindness”.

That kindness has indeed become unusual. It’s not that the Maltese have become an unfriendly, hateful people. However, inconsiderate behaviour has become the order of the day, especially with the proverbial ‘our own’.

Take the case reported by the Times of Malta recently. Residents of a narrow street in Kalkara were turned prisoners in their own home, courtesy of a large crane and a truck blocking the way. Complaints were made with various entities, including the local council, whose executive secretary said the council was aware of the residents’ concerns and would be suggesting the use of smaller cranes where possible.

This is by no means an uncommon occurrence. With towns and villages experiencing a construction boom and the number of vehicles on the road rising constantly, residents are frequently subjected to blocked roads, noise and dust pollution and a general downgrade to their quality of life.

This newspaper also reported how a motorcyclist reached speeds of nearly 170 kilometres per hour on the St Paul’s Bay bypass. This was 10 kilometres per hour above that recorded on the same bypass last year, which suggests that speed junkies using this stretch of road as their personal racetrack were becoming even more reckless. Apart from showing disregard to the safety of other road users, such thoughtless practice is also the cause of noise pollution, with St Paul’s Bay residents reporting they were often woken up in the middle of the night by the booming sound of motorbikes speeding along.

Such antisocial behaviour is, of course, not only limited to the St Paul’s Bay bypass; any stretch of decent tarmac is, every weekend, transformed into a racetrack. And if the soundtrack were not loud enough, the decibels are often supplemented by the chorus of loud music from cars, bars and nightclubs.

In September, a Pembroke man went on a hunger strike outside the Prime Minister’s office, so frustrated he was at having spent months complaining, to no avail, against the operators of an entertainment venue who, he claimed, were blatantly ignoring the law. His frustration must surely be shared by countless others.

Whenever such instances of antisocial behaviour – from motorists driving the wrong way and loud construction noise to people using skips as their personal lavatory and road rage too – are made public, fingers are always pointed elsewhere and others are inevitably blamed. The relevant entities usually hasten to suggest changes to the law, public consultations exercises are put in motion and legislation is drafted or promised.

Beyond the rhetoric and the lip service, what law-abiding citizens want to see is robust action to control antisocial behaviour?

In 1998, the UK introduced the Crime and Disorder Act, which criminalised antisocial behaviour deemed to cause harassment, alarm and distress to other people. And, last June, Paris introduced a new, 1,900-strong police brigade to act against offences such as littering, dog-fouling and antisocial behaviour.

So models exist. Legislation to proceed against people who litter, cause noise pollution and encroach on other people’s rights also exists. What we need now is a strong will to act.

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