You are the first PL Mayor for Valletta. What is your plan for the capital city?
The PL’s victory was a historic one. Over the past 25 years there was always a PN majority. Good things were done, but over the past five years, Valletta residents saw that over the past five years the government invested in the capital city. Everyone knows that years ago, the city used to empty at night, with the city effectively sleeping early, at 7pm when the shops closed. The government addressed this over the past five years.
Abroad, capital cities don’t sleep, they are alive 24 hours a day. Ours sleeps, but now late rather than early. As a capital city we want it to sleep late, even due to the tourists that come, finding restaurants and entertainment. A balance was needed.
People recognised the work done by the government over the past five years, and I think this also helped us as PL candidates. For example, a lot of work was conducted by the Grand Harbour Regeneration Project on a number of heritage buildings, and churches. The government conducted a lot of restoration works. I think the people felt that it made sense to have a PL majority right now, for the Capital to keep moving forward.
What is your main priority for Valletta?
There are many priorities. We want to continue on the good that was done, but there are some things which we want to tackle quickly. Firstly there is the cleanliness issue. Cleanliness must be our main job. We must ensure that Valletta is kept as clean as possible, and the country for that matter. We have seen a lot of progress in this country, but a lot of education is still needed on keeping the country clean. In a number of localities, not just Valletta, waste is a problem.
On this point, Valletta was one of the localities with the highest reduction in black bag waste, however is still one of the localities with the most mixed waste in terms of tonnage. Why is there this problem, is it due to commercial waste? What can you do to reduce it?
As well yes. Valletta is divided in three, the residential, the government and administration buildings with almost all government offices here, and then the commercial sector. The three together generate more waste than other localities. You cannot mix and compare Valletta with a small quiet town.
In terms of special funds for Valletta, in my opinion, we do not have enough. I believe that the government should increase the special funds for Valletta.
Valletta, aside from taking the funds as all other local councils receive established by law, based on population size and the size of the locality, receives special funds. These special funds are not much however, and are around €100,000 per year. You cannot only give us a €100,000 extra, when we are leading the capital city with so many eyes on us, and the tourism attractions here. It’s the capital city.
Valletta as a brand is more popular among tourists than the Malta brand. We need to admit this. But we also need the funds to implement what we want to do.
It is true that the government invests a lot in the city and handles the major projects and major restoration, but we also want projects for our community.
What kind of projects do you have in mind in terms of using these special funds?
A number of gardens and squares fall under the council where many residents live, and we want to improve them for our residents, especially for those who live at lower Valletta. All of Valletta is important to us. Before residents used to mainly live in lower Valletta whereas today people live all over the capital. There are a number of projects underway in lower Valletta already, such as in the Due Balli.
We want to come out with new initiatives in the coming months to make life better for the residents.
We also need to coordinate with the government as to what exactly will happen regarding the roads in Valletta. The government in the coming years needs to re-work every road in Malta according to the electoral promises. Many projects are being done around the country. Valletta needs special attention, as one cannot just have any kind of pavement, or use any colour. Valletta is a world heritage site, and we need to give it more attention even when it comes to fixing pavements.
We as a Council, and I want to work with both the PL and PN councillors – We are all Valletta residents who love the city and should work together, need to speak with the government to see when the pavements and roads in Valletta will be done. There are certain pavements that are in a bad state, and there are elderly people who tell us that they cannot even walk on them. We need to see how we will coordinate.
It would be irresponsible of us to start working on a pavement if the government plans on doing it, as those funds could be used elsewhere and could be used to improve the efficiency of cleaning services for example.
What are the main challenges Valletta is facing, aside from what was mentioned?
Parking. The council wants to create car parks. There were some things planned, and again what was good we will continue working on. For example we had the parking sensors situation, however that ended up in court and we will be re-releasing the tender. This project is an EU financed project and we should not lose it as we would be throwing a project that would be good for everyone away. This project would see an app created showing which spaces are open.
This would help reduce emissions, as people would not need to stay going round a block seven times. Car emissions are a big problem in Valletta.
I am also in favour of more pedestrian zones. Everyone wants this but in addition nobody wants to reduce car parking spaces, so we need to see where we want to go. But this is where parking areas can come in. One area being considered is the Yellow garage beneath City Gate.
The Valletta Cultural Agency was recently set up, headed by Jason Micallef. There could be a situation where the council and this agency will clash as cultural events are also handled by the council. What do you think of it?
I see it as a plus. If the Valletta Cultural Agency has a certain budget which the council does not have then it is a plus that it organises cultural activities in Valletta which we are not against. What is important is that the local council, like with all other entities, is not ignored. So we will work with the agency and they will work with us. Our aim is the same. I don’t think there should be any problems and I don’t see any problems.
Who will have the final say on events? That is where I foresee certain clashes. Who will decide what events will take place, where and when?
Obviously many of the initiatives will be theirs. There have already been a few activities where we were consulted recently. But I don’t want any friction. I don’t think the agency will ever organise an activity that is not befitting of the Capital. Where there will be activities we do not agree upon we will discuss, but until now there have not been any activities which I saw any problems with.
Why didn’t this job go to the local council from the beginning? The council already worked on cultural events. Why create a new agency instead of giving more funds to the council to work on cultural events?
You also have Festivals Malta that organises a lot of activities in Valletta, such as Notte Bianca. I believe that Festivals Malta, the Valletta Cultural Agency and the local council need to be together on activities like Notte Bianca, and on national events like New Year’s Eve. I reiterate what is important is that the local council is not ignored. In fact it was the local council that had started New Year ’s Eve activities a while back.
I think that they are all a plus. That the council is given more funds as well I agree. We want to also focus on activities within our community, which I do not think the agency will delve into. If we ask for help I do not think we will find closed doors.
You are not envisaging any problems between the council and the agency?
Till now there aren’t any. I work with Jason Micallef and his team. I work with everyone. What is important is that there is good will. The Prime Minister, when speaking after the election result, said that the Valletta Cultural Agency should work in coordination with the local council and that we should work together for Valletta.
If there are activities we do not agree with we will talk about it.
But if there is a problem, who would have the final say in that situation?
Until now there haven’t been such problems, and I hope we won’t have problems on cultural events. But if that happens I believe the local council should be given importance.
There are parts of Valletta where there is not much regeneration going on, like the Mandragg area. Do you have any initiatives to help regenerate these areas in mind?
Yes, as I mentioned there are gardens and squares which we can work on, and Mandragg is one example. But we need funds to be able to implement what the residents want.
In addition, the majority of people from Valletta live well, have nice houses. However in my door-to-door visits I met some families who fell behind, especially in certain zones. I will also coordinate with the government to help these people live more decently. There are some government properties that require looking at, some maintenance for the people to live decently, and then it would be up to the people to keep them in good shape. Poverty has not disappeared, and even the Prime Minister says this. There are families who need our help and the social sector should also be part of the council’s mission, where we need to work more. Solitude among the elderly is one such area.
The first request from an elderly person I received was to create a nigh shelter. If a night shelter isn’t built, then we need to ensure that we would have a place where the elderly who are alone can find company.
Some didn’t want bars to open at the bottom of Valletta, but we have certain old bars, those that we call tat-te, where the elderly go and have a drink on Sunday with appetizers. We cannot kill those off, and we need to help them. Those are places where people gather and meet together. We need to treasure these traditional establishments, as they can help this situation.
There have been a number of applications before the Planning Authority to raise the height of buildings in Valletta. What is your opinion on this, keeping in mind that Valletta is a world heritage site?
A number of boutique hotels have opened, and in my opinion many have kept the characteristics of Valletta. Some of these were even 5-star. So one needs to keep with the characteristics of the Capital.
We will definitely agree when permits are stopped if there will be damage to the look of Valletta. We also need to take care of our world heritage status. Valletta is not just any other locality, and has a lot of history... I will not shy away from objecting to applications which I feel will not be good for Valletta. The final decision will not be ours to make of course – it will be the Planning Authority’s, but if there is something that will hurt Valletta we will not remain silent. We, as the local government for Valletta, need to be consulted and I will not accept the Valletta local council not being consulted on everything that happens in the Capital.
We were democratically elected to look out for the interests of the people. So all other entities created by the government and independent ones, must consult with us on everything that happens in Valletta. I am not saying that we are not progressive but I will not accept us being ignored out of respect for our residents.