(Adds PN statement)
Police presence in Paceville will be increased after a rampage by a knife-wielding man left many feeling uneasy, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said yesterday.
Mr Abela told the Times of Malta that he met Police Commissioner Michael Cassar to look at ways of improving security in the clubbing district because he was aware of people’s concerns.
“We need to talk about the security aspect of the area but we do not want to be overbearing. We need to strike a balance between putting people’s minds at rest and going too far. We do not want to create a police state,” he said.
The issue of safety in Paceville was raised earlier this week following a violent knife attack early on Sunday morning. Ehab Zorgani, 22, of Tripoli, is being charged with injuring six people, including a young Dutchman who, at one time, was in critical condition.
Mr Abela did not rule out the possibility that the violent incident could have had “influences” adding that the police would surely get to the bottom of it.
Asked what these influences could be, Mr Abela replied: “Since this person was foreign and from a particular country, there was speculation about him and his motives.”
Pressed further, Mr Abela said the matter was being investigated by the police.
More in the print version of Times of Malta.
PN CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE AND LONG TERM ACTION
The Nationalist Party called for immediate and long term steps to be taken to address the increasing criminality in Paceville.
Deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami said that following a summer of silence, the minister now seemed to have woken up and realised there was an alarming increase in criminality in Paceville and several other localities.
Serious, immediate and long term steps should be taken for the situation to be addressed, he said.
Dr Fenech Adami said the minister should immediately see that the number of police officers stationed at the St Julian’s police station and on patrol in Paceville,
St Julians and Swieqi were increased, that the Swieqi police station was open and staffed at all times, that there was a Rapid Intervention Unit dedicated solely to Paceville and that a well-equipped police station was set up in Paceville as soon as possible.