One of the Welcome to Naxxar signs was vandalised twice during the weekend, Naxxar local council executive secretary Paul Gatt yesterday told The Malta Independent.

The locality sign in Labour Avenue was hit by paving bricks, first on Friday, then again on Saturday. Both acts were done in the cover of darkness, and the culprits are as yet unknown to both the police and the council.

The Naxxar council is involved in a current dispute with the Mosta local council over the boundaries dividing the two towns.

A few days ago, the Mosta council had moved into the Naxxar area signs indicating the limits of Mosta’s boundaries. The signs were later removed by the Naxxar council.

The Malta Independent contacted the Local Government director, Natalino Attard, about the boundaries dispute. He said that locality maps are issued by the Department of Local Councils to all local councils free of charge. Subsequent copies are sent to local councils when requested at a nominal fee. Mr Attard said that in the case of Mosta local council, a subsequent locality map was requested early last week and sent on 30 August.

Mr Attard said that a request for a change in locality boundaries has to be made in terms of article 3 of the Local Councils Act, which says that “changes in the boundaries of localities shall be made only in exceptional circumstances and only by the Electoral Commission, after consultation with the Minister, the Local Councils concerned, and wherever possible, with the local residents.”

It is up to the Electoral Commission to place a legal notice in the Government Gazzette to confirm that changes would have been effected.