Opposition whip David Agius on Monday extended a hand of friendship to Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Buontempo over local councils, saying the Opposition was ready to cooperate with the government in this area.

But he then castigated the government over a number of shortcomings in its dealings with councils and accused it of failing to believe in them.

There had been several occasions when the voice of the councils was not heard, or even when government entities initiated a project in a locality without first informing the local council concerned.

He believed the government should not be oriented towards bringing everything closer to the central government, but should do the contrary.

If local councils worked more efficiently that could only strengthen the government rather than weaken it. Similarly, ministers should not be reluctant to share their powers with the local councils, which could do much to help.

In a 90-minute speech, Mr Agius said lowering the voting age for local council elections to 16 sent a clear message to the people that one had to work together for the common good.

In 20 years of local councils giant steps forward have been made as responsibilities – and funding – had increased.

In 20 years of local councils giant steps forward have been made

Both parties believed in the potential of youth and the next step was to educate them about the values cherished by the Maltese. There should be other initiatives, such as student council elections.

He called on primary schools to teach students what it means to be part of a local council and to invite ministers, MPs and council members to speak about imp­rovements they would like to see in their villages.

Barriers between schools and local councils must disappear. Experience had shown that participation was positive, he said.

Parties were not there to win local council elections; the important thing was implementing the manifesto. The PN firmly believed in subsidiarity – that decisions should be taken by those they would affect.

Residents had a duty to report to the local councils things which were not done correctly by the central government.

In turn, the local council should refer to the central government. It was also in that way that the local and central government could improve governance. Government, from its end, should listen to what the councillors had to say

He said that in Siġġiewi, Mepa did not inform the local council of an ongoing case, resulting in the latter having to make an application for a warrant of prohibitory injunction to halt the development.

Similarly, the Attard local council had, on numerous occasions, contacted Transport Malta about a particular road, but the agency decided to ignore the council.

The same was happening in Gozo, where local councils were informed after projects commenced. Moreover, what were Labour-led local councils doing about criminal activities in their locality? The Ta’ Xbiex local council was not acting on the vandalism, public indecency and prostitution cases occurring in and around the main public garden.

Did anyone take any steps? Was a report files with the police?

It was also important that the government was aware of those other local councils which were not acting or were not working towards making their locality a better place.

Furthermore, the conditions of the local council offices had to be supervised and offices should be conducive to a proper working environment. A case in point was that of the Valletta council.

Referring to financing, Mr Agius said this should not be reduced, the more so now that 16-year-olds would have the right to vote and hence the local council had to do projects that attracted youngsters.

He also proposed that a percentage of the retail shops’ licences be made available to the councils. Such an amount would result in better maintenance and public hygiene around the villages.

Mr Agius asked if the government intended to provide any guidelines to local councils with respect to precarious employment when awarding tenders.

Local wardens were important for maintaining order and overseeing traffic rules and punishing any contraventions. But they should be more than that. Their task should be more holistic.

They should also be in charge of environmental contraventions.

He asked whether the committee set up to discuss local council financing had met and whether it was considering meeting the Opposition for suggestions.

He also asked whether Parliamentary Secretary Buontempo would follow on his predecessor’s footsteps and take on a suggestion made by the Opposition with regard to the introduction of an Ombudsman for Local councils.

Mr Agius said that local councils were facing challenges created by market sellers in their locality, mainly becuase they had to provide cleaning services which were straining their financial resources.

Contributions paid by market sellers to the governemnt ought to be invested in a special fund from which local councils could benefit.

He also said that decisions on parking schemes should be taken by the local councils and not by the central government. He asked what had happened to the budget proposal on the devolution of health centres and health branches to local councils, and whether any financial provisions had been made.

Mr Agius also accused the government of lacking belief in local councils when they were criticised for the level of cleanliness and maintenance of public areas in various localities. He called for more funds and deployment of more workers with councils.

He also called on the government to invest more in residential roads.

Those councils that had to face challenges created by immigration had to be helped.

Mr Agius also called on local councils to publish their minutes on the council’s website and to live stream council meetings.

He showed his concern about a number of playing fields in different localities which were considered unsafe for children, calling for action to be taken.

He asked for a review of the protocol for mayors and for a number of hamlets to become local councils because of an increase in population.

Mr Agius also said that the time was ripe to appoint a full-time president of the Local Councils Association through consensus in the House of Representatives.