On 11 March, one third of the Maltese electorate will be called to decide the administration of 23 localities for the coming three years. Each party has seen to it that it fields the best available people who, in their opinion, should not only enjoy the trust of the respective electorate but who could in some way make all the difference in their locality.

Both Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Opposition Leader Alfred Sant are having a hectic time trying to convince the electorate that the respectively chosen candidates are the best bet in each locality. However in some cases, the result is a foregone conclusion, notwithstanding the possibility that the elected councillors may change.

No one is expecting that villages which traditionally support one party or the other will have a local council elected with a majority coming from the other party, unless there is some local issue, which will keep the electorate from voting for that party. In fact, one could easily forecast that villages like Kalkara will once again have a Labour majority council, while Mgarr will have another Nationalist majority council.

The March polls will see elections being held, among other localities, in Mgarr, Mtarfa and Rabat – now together in the newly-formed electoral district which also incorporates Dingli and Zebbug. Some comments on these can only add spice and colour to what has already been said and brewed.

Mgarr

Presently, the council is made up of a four-to-one Nationalist majority team. The present administration has been able to appreciate and tackle the various grievances that cropped up from time to time within the community.

It also ably addressed the Mosta Road upgrading in a very practical way.

Mayor Paul Vella and his team met with all the various authorities to see to it that all the necessary underground services were in place, prior to the resurfacing of the main road. Thanks to the funds from the fifth Italian protocol, and the fact that the CHOGM 2005 meeting was held at Ghajn Tuffieha, the locality was able to benefit immensely.

However, one must admit that the residents in the locality itself are very civic-conscious and tend to rally together in order that the village benefits. One could almost say that the present council deserves full marks even from the Opposition Leader, notwithstanding that there is a Nationalist majority council. There is simply very little to criticise. This is a good sign for the future.

Mtarfa

The Opposition Leader has given high marks to this locality and its Labour-led administration. However, the situation here is not so rosy.

The 2003 elected mayor was voted out of office two years back and together with her husband, who had also been elected into office, finished up as the opposition in the locality.

The work carried out in this locality took place when the two Nationalist Party councillors together with the other Labour elected councillor decided to forget their political differences, tuck up their sleeves, and tackle the problems. They addressed these with vigour.

If one ventures round the village, it results that a lot of work has been done and that if both sides can team

together, the village will benefit substantially.

One would however wish that the much-needed works in the Mtarfa by-pass and the road leading from the Srina roundabout to Mtarfa to be addressed in the immediate future.

In this locality, there is a young and ever growing population with individual needs, which are not the normal run of the mill problems facing the rest of the country. The locality is in dire need of continual attention in order to create a closer community life than that enjoyed so far.

Rabat

Where will the votes go? It is expected that this will be a tight election, with the majority being decided by small numbers, rather than one side gaining a clear win.

Unfortunately, even in Rabat, the last administration has seen the removal of mayor Charles Azzopardi, who was elected in 2003.

The elected mayor was removed from office because his Labour colleagues, one year down the line, did not vote in favour of the budget proposals. The situation till then was that notwithstanding a Labour majority, each councillor had been allotted important duties, which were bringing about collectively approved results. The same had happened during the three previous administrations run by a Nationalist majority.

Upon the election of a new mayor in 2004, the duties were reassigned and Nationalist councillors were not given much to do. This new strategy was implemented in spite of advice to the contrary.

What has happened since is a nightmare. Council employee Brian Sofia’s employment was abruptly terminated and council executive secretary Rose Camilleri did not have her contract renewed.

Now, after sitting pretty on the council’s approved financing for the last two years – when the only real infrastructural work was carried out by the central government in Bahrija and in the country area, during the last weeks – the mayor and his colleagues seem to have been in a rush to carry out some work.

Road work carried out in College Street and Riebu Well Street are well below expected levels.

In the former, eroded water pipes have been simply covered over without the necessary replacement and, to add insult to injury, tar seems to have seeped through the road foundations into the passage leading to the Saint Paul’s Grotto.

In Riebu Well Street, only the insistence of Nationalist councillors Paul Abela and Mario Falzon and myself (as local MP) brought about the replacement of the rusted water mains and the central government action to build a rainwater culvert to prevent the overflowing of water into various residences every time it pours heavily.

In spite of the mayor’s self-declared dedication to culture, during the last three years, nothing has been done to enhance the twinning programme started by former mayor Rudolph Grima in conjunction with the Italian town of Tarquinia. By now the two towns should have presented the EU with projects that could see our historical monuments being upgraded with the financial support of the Union. None of this has occurred.

Most of us are hoping that 11 March will mean a change in majority that would mean that all nine elected councillors would be given the chance and opportunity to work for the benefit of the locality.

Che sara’ sara’! I just hope that for Rabat the next election will really be a “New Beginning – Bidu Gdid”.

Tony Abela is Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister