It’s becoming a trend: towns and villages where clubs and bars stay open late for the entertainment of patrons who tend to shun Paceville and Buġibba – and it is leading to disturbed nights for residents. Ramona Depares zooms in on one particular area where the weekends have become a nightmare for some.
More residents have come forward with complaints of excessive night-time noise emanating from bars after The Sunday Times of Malta sounded the alarm about village cores being turned into unofficial entertainment zones.
Ħamrun appears to be one of the hard-hit localities.
A number of residents have contacted this newspaper to lament the loud amplified music and groups of equally loud revellers hanging around outside bars up to the early hours of the morning.
They seem to have become a regular occurrence, turning Friday, Saturday and even Sunday nights into a nightmare of noise and drunken people for those living in the vicinity.
The problem area is reported to be concentrated in the stretch of road between Ħamrun and Santa Venera, which some residents have dubbed a ‘no man’s land’ due to it being located away from the centre of either town, with infringements less likely to be noticed by authorities.
“Three particular bars are the worst in terms of noise and even loitering about,” one irate resident said, while showing me an exchange of e-mails with the Ħamrun police station, all providing details of specific days and times when the infringements allegedly occurred. Some include photo evidence and footage of groups of people outside the places in question.
“People regularly get drunk, or worse, at these spots and I have personally informed the police on duty multiple times. It has become so bad that I even installed CCTV cameras all around my house in order to keep a close eye on the situation,” the resident said.
The cameras turned out to be particularly useful after a bar patron who was “off her face” broke into his car.
“Thanks to the cameras I had evidence of her actually doing the act, and it was easy to identify her,” he said.
The woman was called in for questioning after the footage, seen by this newspaper, was passed on to the police.
“But she was released shortly after and I don’t know what happened with the case since then,” the resident said, visibly exasperated.
Another resident echoed these comments, saying that she had taken to sleeping at her boyfriend’s house as the noise was unbearable.
“Added to the loud music, I also have to put up with the vibrations running through the stone work and the window panes. I am being chased out of my home,” she said, adding that one of the worst offenders was a bar that opened every fortnight, “when people receive their pay and have money to spend”.
We have a right to a peaceful life like everyone else
“I have complained to the police multiple times, yet these bars remain open and nothing seems to happen to them. Are they above the law?”
Police say the matter cuts both ways
But sources within the police force insisted that all complaints about excessive noise are acted upon immediately, with the offenders being taken to court in case of repeated violations and some bar operators even having their licence suspended or withdrawn.
“In many cases, however, this is not possible as the majority of residents that file a complaint do so anonymously, which leaves us without any witnesses in case of a prosecution,” the source insisted.
While residents’ complaints were taken very seriously, he said, this was a “two-way street and those experiencing problems need to stand up and be counted”, in order for the full force of the law to be able to be applied in an effective manner.
However, when asked to explain the judicial process following an anonymous complaint, lawyer Stefano Filletti said that even when no third-party witnesses came forward, police were legally entitled to initiate court proceedings against offenders.
“The prosecuting officer in the case provides his own testimony. The law allows for the police to be the effective witnesses,” he said.
But he added that anonymous complaints could indeed jeopardise the outcome of the prosecution in cases where the police were dispatched to investigate complaints regarding excessive noise only to turn up on site and find no evidence of this.
“This is not necessarily because no infringement was committed, of course. The music may have stopped by the time they show up, or people may have gone elsewhere... But the truth is that if police officers show up at a bar and find no evidence of excessive noise, then they cannot initiate proceedings unless an independent witness comes forward.
“The only instances when police officers can act as witnesses are when offenders are caught red-handed by the law. Otherwise, they cannot be witness to something that they didn’t, in fact, witness. In such cases, the likelihood is that no legal steps would be taken against the bar as the case would fall flat upon its face,” Dr Filletti said.
Meantime, residents lamented the impasse, with one particularly upset complainant claiming that it is “ridiculous” to place residents in a situation where, if they want to enjoy a good night’s sleep, they had to be willing to get involved in court proceedings.
“We have a right to a peaceful life like everyone else. Why should it be our responsibility to get the issue resolved? I don’t want to show my face and give evidence against someone who may bear a grudge against me and my family just to be able to enjoy my right to a quiet night,” the resident insisted.