Last July I posted a complaint through the eGovernment website, www.servizz.gov.mt . Following that, in August I posted another complaint, not related to the first one. Both complaints, however, concerned Naxxar roads. Waiting and waiting, come September, I sent another form of complaint, sort of a reminder to the first two. And yet, nothing.

Out of the blues on 29 December 2006, I received three acknowledgements for all three complaints from the Naxxar local council. Needless to say, I replied that this is no efficiency and that the only time I received any communication related to the Naxxar roads was a few days before the Naxxar local council elections.

What irked me most was the reply that I received from Paul Gatt, executive secretary for the Naxxar local council. He insists that the delay was due to “a mistake where the complaint was not forwarded to them” (“bi zvista ma kienx ghaddha l-ilment li inti kont wassalt”).

To say the least, this is an insult to intelligence. Were there three repeated mistakes? And, all of a sudden, they were all forwarded just before the year’s end? Furthermore, he continued to state that “they” (I am assuming that he is referring to Naxxar Local Council), had two choices: to ignore the issue or to proceed with it.

What kind of choice is this: to ignore a complaint by a resident? As far as I know, this type of argument has long been buried, let alone thought. This line of thinking only brings back memories of the late 70s/80s where the public opinion was completely ignored. Wasn’t this the whole idea behind the foundation of the local councils – that the people’s complaints be heeded?

A better response from local councils is indeed expected.

Antoine Grima

Naxxar