Spending on public order and safety should rise to 2 per cent of GDP given Malta's rising population and crime rate, the Democratic Party said this morning. 

In a statement, PD also questioned the country's preparedness in cases of emergencies and asked whether the country was equipped to handle a large-scale disaster involving a high-rise building. 

Eurostat figures released this week showed that Malta is the EU's third-lowest spender on public safety and order in relative terms, with 1.2 per cent of GDP going towards financing police, fire rescue crews, the law courts and prison. 

The PD's proposal to dedicate 2 per cent of GDP to the services would mean adding around €75m to the country's annual public order and safety budget.

Of the €113m currently being spent, 0.3 per cent goes toward the law courts, with prison and fire fighting both getting 0.1 per cent of GDP respectively, and 0.7 per cent allocated to police. 

READ: Skyscrapers need fire safety planning, CPD warns

On average, EU member states spend 1.8 per cent of GDP on public order and safety, with the 28 member states spending an average of 1 per cent of GDP on police, 0.2 per cent on fire and prison services and 0.3 per cent on law courts. 

Emergency preparedness

The PD also called for authorities to crank up their emergency preparedness procedures, saying national disaster plans needed to be updated to take into consideration new developments. 

READ: What did the government spend taxpayer money on last year?

"Given government's commitment in favour of high rise buildings," PD asked, "how prepared are we in case of a large scale disaster?"

The Civil Protection Department had noted last year that any skyscrapers being built would have to include adequate fire safety provisions, as accessing the towers from the outside was not feasible.