Resources for busy localities, such as Paceville, will be reviewed to ensure their needs are catered for, according to the parliamentary secretariat for local councils.
“Our ministry will be commissioning a detailed report on the needs and resources of the situation in various localities, such as Paceville and other frequented areas,” said the spokeman of the secretariat that falls under the Tourism Ministry.
Paceville’s administrative council members have called for more funding since carrying out repairs and cleaning the popular entertainment hub was costing too much.
They said the 2014 budget amounted to €115,000 and the council was already some €35,000 short when expenses for necessities such as waste collection and maintenance were deducted.
During the day, delivery trucks drove over pavements, damaging them, and, at night, the area fell victim to littering and vandalism with road signs and poles in need of constant repairs.
One thing is sure, we do not intend to introduce new taxation
Apart from that, the members said, the council was struggling to keep up with cleaning as it had no money to clean the litter left by thousands of bar patrons, some of whom vomited and urinated in public spaces and on residents’ patios.
They also said the traffic situation had to be addressed. The main problem was that three roads led into the locality but there was only one exit, through Church Street. Transport Malta said it was “currently assessing the situation”.
St Julian’s mayor Peter Bonello explained that, as a hamlet within the locality, Paceville was allocated 10 per cent of the “miserable” budget given to the council, which was calculated on the number of residents.
But this, he said, did not make sense since the influx of people was much higher than the resident population.
In summer the locality was inundated with tourists and English language students.
Mr Bonello suggested that one idea to raise more funds was, for example, to ask language students to contribute a one-time fee of about €5 that would go towards the maintenance of the locality.
He also said the council was proposing a by-law on waste collection that would require bar and restaurant owners to pay a fee for their waste to be collected by the council.
The government spokesman said it was too early to establish how the budget for the locality would be increased, but ruled out imposing any form of taxes.
“First we have to have all the relevant information in hand and then we will decide how to proceed.
“One thing is sure, we do not intend to introduce new taxation, especially from the councils. It is expected that such a report be in hand before next summer,” he said.