Labour MP Joe Debono Grech told Parliament yesterday he did not agree that localities should be divided through the setting up of hamlet committees, because they would lead to greater pique. He suspected that the government's intention was to severely hamper councils with a Labour majority.
Speaking during the debate on the Local Councils (Amendment) Bill, Mr Debono Grech said different parishes in the same locality had already contributed to great division among residents.
He criticised local wardens because they were being used as tax collectors when giving traffic fines, whereas they were supposed to be there to educate. The ADT had taken over duties pertaining to local councils, such as allocating reserved parking areas and sleeping policemen.
Mr Debono Grech argued that executive secretaries should be appointed by the council and not by the minister, because they had to carry out the council's programme. This went against the concept of local government. The minister was being given so much authority that the council would be rendered useless.
He joined Mr Arrigo in criticising the inconvenience caused by construction equipment in localities.
The government had not allowed the Birkirkara local council to engage the services of a family doctor to serve the town with a population of 30,000 residents, who still had to go to the Mosta health centre.
He criticised the Birkirkara local council for deceiving residents when it did not announce to the electorate before Saturday's elections that domestic waste would be collected three times a week instead of daily.
Earlier, Silvio Parnis (PL) said it was important that once elected, councillors forgot their political parties' interests and put the needs of the residents first and foremost.
MPs should offer all the help they could to newly-elected councillors, especially until these realised the extent of their responsibilities. The Local Councils Department should think about organising training on customer care and local government planning.
He said the time for disputes was over and the only aim had to be to improve the locality. After the PL's landslide victory in the European Parliament elections, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat had made it abundantly clear that there were to be no insults, as this was a victory for all those who had voted for the party. Dr Muscat, Mr Parnis said, was setting the pattern for a new style of leadership, with European ideas, now and when in government.
The responsibility of councils made it obvious that they needed more funds to better the quality of life of residents.
On traffic fines, Mr Parnis said burdening the people more than they could bear made them lose faith in local councils. It was fair enough in the case of someone caught throwing a cigarette butt or a plastic bag out of a window, but not when someone has been looking for a parking place after a long work shift. He appealed for a more humane approach by local wardens, and for them to educate and help people.
In large localities, such as Paola, the government had to intervene so that no one lagged behind.
Although the government had promised plans on Pace Grasso football ground in the run-up to the general elections, nothing had been done. He also appealed to the government to give back to the Paola local council the fountain which had been taken to the Auberge de Castille.
Mr Parnis expressed his solidarity with councillors in Marsa because of the many problems they faced. Localities such as Tarxien had prospered greatly, because in small villages these changes were possible.
He was fully in agreement with the project which allocated more government workers to local councils. This had been started in 1996 by a Labour government.
Mepa presented a lot of problems to local councils, as permits took a long time to be issued. There were also problems with approval of parking areas or the construction of ramps for persons with disability.
Both MPs and councillors had to be more sensitive to these people's needs. The aim was to give people local councils with ideas and prosperity.
Noel Farrugia (PL) said that although the Bill in itself was good, it lacked common sense. Malta had to be at the forefront when it came to town planning research.
Referring to Mr Mugliett's call for clear parameters in the issue of public-private partnerships, Mr Farrugia said this would not succeed. Not only did these parameters not exist, but the Office of the Prime Minister had no idea where to start when it came to solving certain problems.
The parking problem cropped up when activities were organised in Mdina, but asking OPM or Mepa for research on development of parking zones was futile, because this research was lacking. All changes had to be tied to common sense and the local way of life, for the benefit of the people.
Mr Farrugia said the potential of purely-rural areas, such as Dingli and Rabat, had to be made use of for the benefit of the people, tourism and economic activity. But in the face of all this nothing had been done. Mr Farrugia also suggested bringing in experts to advise on how to preserve the aesthetic characteristics of Malta.
Closed health centres, he said, created financial pressures as patients had to seek the services of private medical practitioners. This was not right, because NI contributions and taxes were not consequentially reduced.
Reforms which were not linked to common sense but to a sense of pride, anger, incompetence or a laissez-faire attitude were incomprehensible. It was time to strike a balance between the citizens' obligations and those of the reformist.
This balance had to be safeguarded, even when it came to technology; one had to keep focused because today's technology would be out of date tomorrow.
Concluding, Mr Farrugia said that propaganda and interests prevented common sense from prevailing, and allowed for party interests to hold sway.