Allow me to answer Mark Theuma’s letter, titled Time for change, (TMID, 16 May). Mr Theuma has every right to criticise his local council and to call on the residents of Marsascala to help him change it. However, before putting pen to paper and announcing his crusade against the present council, he should have his facts straight, substantiate his accusations and take to heart the Italian proverb chi va, fa. If he is so keen in achieving change, he should have plucked up his courage and contested the coming local elections for I am more than certain that reading his literature, the residents would have given him a landslide vote with a strong mandate to change things to his heart’s content.

Mr Theuma alleged that the kilometres of pavements were shoddily laid and are a health hazard to pedestrians. This wonder boy should have known that the expenses for the laying of pavements are forked out by MEPA and payments are not issued to contractors unless the works carried out are not according to its regulations. MEPA’s architects have to approve works before the contractors are paid. And one of these regulations is that the pavements must be lowered in front of garages; if not how does wise-guy Theuma expect motorists to get their vehicles in and out of their garages? Perhaps he has discovered a system that eliminates the need of lowering pavements in front of garages. If so he is duty bound to illuminate us about the matter.

Mr Theuma also alleged that some streets have poor lighting. He is grossly off the mark and I am sure that my colleague councillor John Baptist Camilleri, who is responsible for electricity and lighting in our locality, will answer and correct Theuma’s sweeping statements. My advice to Mr Theuma is to think before he speaks... or writes, otherwise people can only come to the conclusion that if he has any brains, he sits on them.

Mr Theuma complained about the traffic bumps and called for their elimination. I can assure him that the council too thinks that these bumps should be eliminated. However, we are inundated with hundreds of letters, e-mails and telephone calls to keep the bumps because they act as a safety valve against reckless drivers.

I always welcome criticism because it is the spice of good governance but I expect our critics to be genuinely concerned about Marsascala’s problems and not just mouth-pieces for people with a hidden, and not so hidden, agenda. If the residents feel that the present council has failed them, I am sure that they will act accordingly. If they realise, and I am sure that they realise that we have done our level best with our modest means to do the job, and what’s more, we have done it, then, the coming elections will be the time for confirmation.

Mario Calleja

Mayor

Marsascala