As early as 6am, residents at the Mrieħel industrial area are woken up by the sound of machinery coming to life, a reminder to close their windows tight, blocking out spray-paint fumes and other pollutants.

Getting out of their apartment block a couple of hours later is sometimes an arduous undertaking and depends on whether cars are parked flush against their front door.

The occupants of a block on Triq il-Għadam have taken it upon themselves to install a barrier to keep their doorways clear.

READ: Confusion, congestion, dust..and dead cats at Mrieħel

Once outside, they need to navigate around the vehicles, trailers or car parts dumped on the pavement. Most of the time they have to share the road with oncoming traffic.

Residents questioned why the authorities were still issuing permits for residential blocks, considering the area is increasingly industrial.

One resident says that the area has been transformed extensively over the 14 years he has lived there. When he arrived, Mrieħel was mainly covered in abandoned fields, dotted with the odd warehouse or workshop.

Today, Triq il-Għadam, on its own, houses around 32 families, he said, apart from several garages and businesses.

The industrial area hosts some 6,000 employees in various businesses and aspires to become an upmarket financial district.

However the place looks more like a neglected dumping ground, full of poorly maintained roads and discarded waste, haphazard parking and construction work.

“I have nothing against the businesses here, and I do not want them to close shop. But what if the vehicles undergoing maintenance catch fire and blow up the apartments above them? And what about the fumes we are inhaling with each passing day?” one resident told this newspaper.

Day in, day out, residents inhale spray-paint fumes from neighbouring shops.

Either businesses are offered an alternative, or residents are provided other lodgings to the ones we bought with our money

“It has come to a point where either business owners are offered an alternative place, or residents are provided with other lodgings to the ones we bought with our money.”

Residents who contacted the Times of Malta voiced their frustration that they are living in “Third World conditions”.

“I have been told that I knew what I was getting myself into when I bought a place here. However, if there is a problem, it needs to be tackled and not justified in that manner,” the resident told this newspaper.

Most of the time Mrieħel residents have to share the road with oncoming traffic.

The man has drawn the attention of several authorities, including the police, about the area’s illegally parked vehicles, which are a “daily occurrence”.

Cars without number plates or expired licence are left abandoned for days or weeks on end, most of the time blocking pedestrian access.

A Birkirkara local council spokesman told this newspaper that the Mrieħel Industrial Estate was excluded from their responsibility, as stated in the Local Councils Act.

Since the local council has no executive power over the area, it has no allocated budget for it.

However, the council remained concerned with the residents’ well-being. It has acted as a facilitator and drawn the authorities’ attention to residential issues such as parking enforcement and inaccessible pavements, the spokesman added.

When contacted, Keith Fenech, from Projects Malta, said the Central Business District Foundation, formerly known as the Mrieħel Enterprise Zone Foundation, included the Birkirkara local council as a member on the board of administrators.

Cars without number plates or licence block pedestrian access.

“The only residences within the Central Business District are those that fall within the confines of Birkirkara, and they are the only ones represented on the board.

“The interests of the residents forming part of the Birkirkara local council are therefore represented on the board by a member of the council.”

Mr Fenech was asked whether the foundation planned to address their concerns, including waste management, lighting, road maintenance and traffic management.

He said requests made by the local council were among the others that the foundation considers from time to time.

The Birkirkara local council draws the authorities’ attention to residential issues such as parking enforcement and inaccessible pavements.