The former street’s sign. Photos: Jason Borg

Residents of one of Żebbuġ’s oldest roads were perplexed to realise they no longer live in Bishop Caruana Street but in Frans Sammut Street.

Of course, their houses were not physically relocated but the name of the road was changed after 120 years.

Żebbuġ mayor Alfred Grixti said a government-appointed street-naming committee accepted the local council’s recommendation to name the street after the leading novelist – a staunch Labour Party supporter – who died three years ago.

The residents will eventually be informed; we wanted to tell them once they change their ID cards

Asked to explain why residents were not informed, he said both the Electoral Commission and Maltapost were advised.

“The residents will eventually be informed; we wanted to tell them once they change their ID cards,” he said.

Residents who contacted Times of Malta expressed disappointment over the issue.

“We are not only offended because our street name has been changed against our wishes but the council didn’t have the decency to tell us,” a 40-year-old resident said.

“I only found out when I asked the postman not to deliver letters with the wrong address to my house. I was astonished when he told me my address was correct and I was now living in a different street,” said a woman who has been there for 35 years.

The council’s proposal to change the street name was made last year, a few months after Mr Sammut’s demise.

There had been vociferous objections and almost all the residents of Bishop Caruana Street had signed a petition urging the council to drop the plans.

The residents had also proposed that one of the city’s still unnamed new roads could be dedicated to Mr Sammut, leaving the name of their street unchanged. Various prominent residents of Żebbuġ – including archpriest Dr Daniel Cardona, Nationalist Party councillors and former Deputy Speaker Michael Bonnici – all spoke publicly against the council’s proposal.

But the council evidently ignored such calls and proceeded with its plans.

When the council had originally made its recommendation, the mayor had publicly denied being pressured by Mr Sammut’s wife, Carmen, a Labour councillor, and defended his stand, saying there was a historic background to the decision .

Council records show that, in June 2012, Ms Sammut had objected to a proposal to name one of the new Żebbuġ roads after her late husband.

Mr Grixti, supported by Labour councillors, had said Mr Sammut, who used to live in the road in question, deserved to have one of the best streets in his hometown named after him.

At the same time, he had justified removing the bishop’s name from the street saying: “Bishop Caruana was an opportunist and a French lackey who did not deserve to become a bishop.”