From Mr R. W. Ciantar

I must admit that the mayor’s reply to my letter was, to say the least, very amusing since this was typically composed of half-truths and inaccuracies (TMIS, 3 February). Besides the fact that he also put on paper his negative attitude towards any contribution I made over the past three years as councillor in our locality. I think your readers, who are surely much more intelligent, should have a better insight.

Please bear with me as I quickly go through our mayor’s reply. When one considers that council meetings were frequently held during office hours and also at short notice, one immediately might doubt that this could have very well been done on purpose. Evidence of correspondence between the director of local councils and myself, disapproving this situation and asking for immediate rectification, can be produced.

With regard to the statement that I had abdicated my responsibilities, allow me to remind Mr Bugeja about some aspects he seems to have conveniently forgotten. Part of my responsibilities as councillor included representation of our council on a regional committee dedicated to street lighting maintenance. However, for his own reasons Mr Bugeja had pushed things (pertaining to other separate issues, which other councillors and mayors from the other local councils, members of this same committee, are well aware of) to a point that the joint committee was disbanded. This is also confirmed by a statement made by Mr Bugeja himself, which are in the minutes of our council meetings. Not to mention the occasion when the sub-committee for tender evaluation was called and I was totally unaware of the said meeting since I was not informed of such. Mr Bugeja also admitted this in one of our recent council meetings.

“Thousands of euros!” – Pathetic. One might think that we are talking of space age remedies. However, we are simply alluding to some seven removable bollards. These actually cost a mere e1,015, installation and VAT included, and NOT thousands of euros as implied (quotation in hand). In actual fact, three of these could have been easily paid for, since they are the equivalent of the PDA recently bought from public funds as a Christmas gift for Mr Bugeja himself, which cost e465.87; or even the several times each year when the council pays for the local band club to parade in the streets of our locality. With each parade costing around e1,000 however, I guess the fact that Mr Bugeja is also the president of this same band club is only a mere coincidence. May I stress the point that I am in no way against any band club, but I do believe that public funds ought to be spent wisely?

“Thousands of euros!” I guess Mr Bugeja must have mixed up the bills for the proposed bollards with the bills for the new public convenience currently under construction at Sirens, work on which has only recently re-started. – Maybe due to an election? The said public convenience is costing the council an estimated e174,703, and YES, the figure is correct.

Your readers and residents must also note that although this subject (illegal parking) was discussed several times, it was also postponed several times with the end result being that the works were never carried out. At this point it may also be worth noting that there was a council decision in favour of such an installation. However, it seems that procrastination is the order of the day. On a separate note, I never remotely mentioned that our contractor doesn’t perform his duties, even though he is rather short on human resources.

With regard to priorities within the locality, I am sure that the new mayor, whoever it may be and from whichever party, will, together with the whole council, make it a point to really work on such priorities. I am sure that the new council will not be retroactive but proactive and will not sit pretty waiting for accidents to happen.

Reference is also drawn to the allegation that I solely requested works in the immediate vicinity of my residence. Is there need for me to point out that I am not the only user of my street or the pavements on either side of the road? Also, am I not permitted to put forward my neighbours’ complaints? Furthermore, it is the direct responsibility of the council to carry out periodical cleaning of rainwater culverts.

On a final note, I fail to understand why I should have been aware that Mr Bugeja retired from all his businesses in Bugibba, especially when he declared on many occasions that he had conflicts of interest when other matters pertaining to the square had been discussed. However, this is solely Mr Bugeja’s private matter.

I hope that your readers now have a better insight and understanding of the way in which matters are dealt with in our locality. I am convinced that any other comments pertaining to Mr Bugeja’s conclusion regarding his decision not to contest the forthcoming local council elections are simply superfluous and need not be amplified.

Robert W. Ciantar

Councillor

ST PAUL’S BAY