One out of every seven prisoners is officially registered as living in the St Paul’s Bay area, according to research that exposes the rapid transformation of what was once a sleepy fishermen’s village.
“The number of prisoners from St Paul’s Bay is three times the national average... This is not an average to be proud of,” former minister and Nationalist MP Ċensu Galea said.
Mr Galea stumbled upon this “saddening situation” during his work for a Masters in Maltese Studies, which highlights emerging social problems in a locality that is now home to some 100 different nationalities.
These prisoners are practically divided between Maltese who are in jail for theft and petty crimes, with a small number connected to drugs and prostitution; and foreigners, who are mostly behind bars in connection with drugs.
“Another disheartening reality concerns the number of residents who have to report to the police station on a daily or weekly basis,” Mr Galea wrote in his dissertation.
There are 112 St Paul’s Bay residents waiting for their case to be heard who have to sign the bail book at the police station. This adds up to nearly one per cent of the population.
“Having one per cent of a locality’s residents in such a situation does not really reflect well,” Mr Galea said, noting that the locality’s fabric had changed beyond recognition in recent years, becoming the most complex on the island.
St Paul’s Bay – which includes Buġibba, Qawra, Xemxija, Burmarrad and Wardija – has in the space of six years seen its population increase by 50 per cent; up to nearly 21,000 from 13,412 from when the last census was carried out in 2005, right up to the last electoral register in April 2011.
112
– the number of residents who have to sign the bail book at the police station
The study focused on the way the locality developed and the impact this change has had on the community.
Mr Galea blamed the rampant construction of apartment blocks coupled with affordable prices as one of the reasons behind this dramatic shift.
Apart from the 3,300 British residents registered, there are 1,701 non-Maltese, non-EU identity card holders residing in St Paul’s Bay leading to a an explosion of social issues.
Mr Galea found that the number of people from St Paul’s Bay who were in prison was much higher than the national average – three times more.
With 15 per cent of the 590 prison population residing in St Paul’s Bay, this amounted to four residents per thousand, compared to the national average of 1.3 per thousand.
“This information rings a bell that extra attention has to be paid to avoid a further increase in prison-related problems,” Mr Galea said.
Aware of the social problems emerging in this village the Government opened a centre run by Appoġġ to provide professional support to those in need.
Through an interview with the staff who run the centre, Mr Galea learnt about the problems encountered on a daily basis, from domestic violence to child abandonment, drug abuse, poverty and situations where one or more family members were serving a jail sentence.
Mr Galea said while a few years ago nobody would have dreamt St Paul’s Bay required such a service, it was now clear it had to be extended.
“The community in St Paul’s Bay has become multicultural, multilingual, multi-religious and extremely complex. For social integration to have a chance of success, this reality has to be understood and accepted by all.”