Mr Rizzo told The Malta Independent that he especially wanted to tackle the problem in Gzira. “But there are many problems in tackling prostitution, most notably the loopholes in the law,” he said.

TMID asked commissioner Rizzo whether he thought it was time to review the law. “Maybe it is time to look at the law. As it stands, paying a woman for sex is not a crime. And personally, I don’t see the act of exchanging money for sex as a crime. But loitering for intents of prostitution is a crime,” he said.

Mr Rizzo continued: “Maybe the fines being handed out in court are not hefty enough. Maybe they are not enough of a deterrent. Every workman needs his tools and our tools are the laws of Malta. Perhaps they need to be looked at.”

He said he felt especially sorry for the residents of Gzira. “It’s a bit ridiculous. We patrol constantly, but as soon as one of our cars goes by, the prostitutes all scurry away like ants and there is not a thing we can do about it,” he said.

He said that another loophole was whether hanging out of a house or flat window and “showing off wares” was the same crime as loitering. “What do you think it is? It is open to interpretation, “ he said, “Maybe you have to look at it in the way women, and even men, look at potential clients and the way potential clients look back at them,” he said.

Mr Rizzo also said that one had to look at the issues connected to prostitution. “Some women do it just for the money – as a profession – but others do it because they are pushed into it by pimps and others do it to support a drug habit,” he said. Asked by this newspaper whether the heroin problem was intrinsically linked to the prostitution rife in Gzira, Mr Rizzo said: “It could very well be so, but you have to look at everything.” He said that something had to be done because it was the worst area in Malta and gave everywhere else a bad reputation.

He said that the Vice Squad had recently gained two new inspectors. “The only way to crack down on it is to constantly patrol the area and make life difficult for them, just as we used to do in Zejtun. There was a hot spot there about 12 years ago and we used to go there every single day. Eventually it stopped,” he said.

Asked by TMID of the danger of scattering prostitutes, Mr Rizzo said: “Yes, that is a very valid point, but we have to do something. The scattered prostitution rings are more in connection with the foreign girls, Ukrainian and Russians. But we are also tackling that.”

Mr Rizzo said that over the past few weeks, the police had arrested 47 people in connection with prostitution, “And our work is still continuing,” he said.

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