Senglea residents are failing to report issues they come across in their locality as they believe the authorities will not do anything to tackle the problems.
The issues having most impact on the community are those related to noise pollution and waste management.
To address this sense of resignation and lack of participation, a group of residents came together and, last week, officially launched the Senglea Residents’ Association (SeRA).
“For years, I and a few others would be approached by residents and asked to contact the authorities about different issues affecting the community. We were always the ones to pick up the phone,” said SeRA’s PRO Anna Spiteri.
In Malta, the authorities rarely discuss anything with the community
The NGO will be working with the local council and other organisations in an attempt to instil in Senglea residents a sense of participation.
Ms Spiteri said the problem stemmed from the age-old mentality that the public would not be given the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes.
“In Malta, the authorities rarely discuss anything with the community. We have public consultation but not public participation,” she said.
The association said it would be holding frequent meetings for residents and would be explaining how to go about establishing contact with the relevant entities and how to follow up complaints made.
“We don’t want residents to come to us with a problem and stop there.
“We will offer guidance but our main aim would be to instil a sense of responsibility.”
Residents are also complaining that while the local council tried to help in some cases, certain issues would require assistance from other entities, such as the relevant ministries.
The association would also be compiling a list of existing laws and police codes and circulating them to inform residents what their rights and obligations as residents are.
SeRA was welcomed by residents, who agree there is a pressing need for more participation.
Isabelle Warrington, a Senglea resident, said many people were aware of the problems the locality faced but did nothing to try and draw authorities’ attention to them.
“I think that what the association is doing is very much needed here. Issues tend to be reported and that’s it. It doesn’t help that the local council rarely seeks the community’s input.”
Ms Warrington said that she had never attended council meetings because they were not promoted and she would only know about them after they had been held.
“Why not use social media to promote such meetings? More people would be active if they knew what was going on.”