Wardens will no longer give fines based on the number of tickets they have to issue per hour, and fines will be based solely on breaches of road regulations.

This was announced by Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government Stefan Bountempo during a public consultation, Gvern Li Jisma, tonight.

He explained that the secretariat has been receiving several complaints on wardens' behaviour, adding that certain practices need to be abolished.

He said that wardens will no longer be ordered to give a specific amount of fines in order to secure their income, adding that this practice is far from transparent. The quota should be completely removed by the end of this year, he said.

He said that the government will procure the service of wardens from the private sector against a fix price, however wardens will not be employed by the state.  The wardens uniform is also expected to be changed.

Number of pending cases in court down – Owen Bonnici

Statistics show that pending cases in court have decreased sufficiently, but the issue remains problematic in the criminal court, Minister Owen Bonnici said.

At present, there are 13,325 pending cases before the magistrates court, 4,508 before the first hall and 1,067 pending cases at the family court. 

Dr Bonnici noted that the government has launched a pilot project in court - and people are not being all called in at 9 in the morning, but rather at distributed throughout the day.

He said that Judge Giovanni Bonello has proposed that when one party fails to turn up to court, even after properly notified, judgment should still be handed out, given the other party is present. The proposal is to be discussed in parliament shortly.

On the rights of children in courtrooms, Dr Bonnici said that the ministry is working in collaboration with the family ministry to further support their rights.

All documents and applications filed in court are now being uploaded online. 

Funding for local councils

Turning to councils, Dr Bountempo said that on his appointment, he found a €22 million deficit which has since been reduced by €1 million. He also said the budget allocation to councils had been increased to €38 million.

He said a study showed that a lack of financial management and wastage of resources due to councils' reluctance to collaborate.  The government, he said, now plans to introduce modern management systems in the field of local government.

He said that he can understand that citizens are more concerned with how their localities are being maintained than the funding local councils are getting. 

The Parliamentary Secretary said that more collaboration between entities is needed, because resources are not being properly managed, adding that different civil centres for different communities can be integrated. 

Local art to be exposed in public spaces

Dr Bonnici said that in collaboration with the ministry for infrastructure, artists now have the opportunity to expose their works of art in public spaces.

He said that people expect a high standard cultural product, and the government is working to achieve better results in the industry. He noted that €500,000 have been distributed to local groups and artists.

The challenge he said, is increasing the audience and consumers of such cultural products.

He said that the government has consulted with a number of heritage entities, allowing them to put forward their ideas. Asked about warrants for conservators and restorers, he said the government will be looking into it.

Dr Bonnici said that the government is working on achieving a UNESCO protection for the local parish feasts.