Every time a political party is in power, it finds it convenient to use its powers to change the confines of the districts for its own benefit. Nothing wrong with that, some may say. But to change even the locality of one’s residence is absurd.

This happened to us just before the last election. We were informed by a letter from the Electoral Commission that our door number had been changed and that the address altered from Qormi Road, Ħamrun to Qormi Road, Marsa!

Cannot they see the inconvenience they cause to people? For instance, we now have to advise all departments, banks and friends, locally and abroad, of the change of address.

Also, we now no longer benefit from the Ħamrun residence parking scheme as we are no longer Ħamrun residents, as if we have moved to another locality.

Worse, it also affects the value of our property. It is a fact that the price of property in this country, like anywhere else in the world, depends also on the locality. For example, a property in Madliena is worth more than a similar one in Ibraġ. Sliema is worth more than Gżira. Likewise, a property in Ħamrun is worth more than a similar one in Marsa. Having purchased our property at the Ħamrun price, we suddenly find it placed in a lower value location.

We would like to bring this state of affairs to the immediate attention of the authorities.