Comments made by an assistant police commissioner to this newspaper a few days ago should open the eyes of the parliamentary secretary responsible for local councils before he announces the reform in the sector.
The local council reform is one area that has been adamantly tackled by the government since the election last March, although the presentation of the reform, after so much discussion and meetings, has been postponed from late November/early December to February.
Assistant police commissioner Paul Sammut told The Malta Independent in no uncertain terms that “there are local council secretaries who are ignorant of the local council laws and regulations and do not follow proper procedures when applying for permits to hold local events”.
In his comments, AC Sammut mentioned only secretaries, but it is clear that the mayor and the other councillors also share a responsibility in this, because it is the council which ultimately authorises the secretary to act on its behalf. Local council secretaries do not take their own initiative, or at least they are not supposed to do so.
Local councils seem to think that they have the power to issue all licences, when in fact only the police can issue permits for the holding of political activities, band marches, fireworks activities and other one-off activities, among other events. Local councils cannot issue such permits, although the police often seek their support and consultation before issuing them, especially when such events could cause traffic and other disruptions.
AC Sammut also mentioned cases where local councils introduced traffic measures without the approval of the authority concerned, in this case the Malta Transport Authority. There should be a more coordinated approach by local councils in the deployment of wardens – it often happens that there is a duplication of work.
He pointed out that the law stipulates that meetings are held regularly between district police officers and local councils, but it is very rare that all the councillors participate in such meetings, with the result that misinformed action is taken by those councillors who do not attend.
AC Sammut also said that local councils work differently from each other and some of them do not follow the country’s laws and regulations. There is certainly a need for more education and better coordination.
In reply, the local councils’ secretaries association put the blame squarely on the mayors. ASKLM president Adrian Mifsud went as far as saying that there were mayors who have been in office for many years who think that the locality belongs to them. He gave the example of mayors who bypassed procedures to issue a permit for a reserved parking bay.
Mr Mifsud also spoke about political interference in the running of local councils, with mayors instructing executive secretaries to take certain decisions to accommodate certain people.
The mayors, through their president Michael Cohen, defended themselves saying that malpractices and irregular procedures were only an interpretation of the law.
The parliamentary secretary responsible for local councils, Chris Said, should take the above comments seriously if the reform he intends to promote is to be comprehensive in its attempt to brush up the functions of local councils.
To have local councils take the law in their own hands or ignoring the correct procedures that need to be followed is something that cannot be allowed to happen. To have mayors bypassing the procedures to accommodate certain people is simply appalling.
Local councils should be the first to set an example in each and every action that they take. Individually, mayors, local councillors and executive secretaries should also set an example by being the first to obey the laws.
Most of all, they should know the laws and regulations that directly concern the functions of local councils, and judging by what AC Sammut said, some – if not all – still have a lot to learn in this regard.