I am the St Paul’s Bay councillor in charge of the village of Burmarrad, and a few months ago the local council asked for my opinion regarding the boundaries of the forthcoming administrative committee for Burmarrad and Wardija which will be elected on 5 June.
The consultation process took off when the council received a draft plan from the Department of Local Government of the territory covered by the administrative committee. At first glance, it was obvious that whole chunks of Burmarrad had been left out of the council’s territory.
To this end, the St Paul’s Bay Local Council submitted its recommendations that Ghajn Rihana, Ta’ Campra, Wied il-Ghasel, l-Imdawra and Burmarrad Road should be included in the territory of Burmarrad/Wardija.
A few days ago, after the territories of each committee were officially established, the local council was informed of the streets that shall fall under the administrative committee’s remit.
With great surprise and disappointment I realised that the above mentioned suggested zones were left out once again from the committee’s area. This means that the administrative committee for Burmarrad/Wardija will not be allocated enough funds to carry out work in the whole of Burmarrad. This also means that the residents of the above mentioned areas will not be allowed to participate in the June 5 election.
This is unacceptable and I feel that this gross injustice should be remedied as soon as possible.
Burmarrad is one single village and it will no longer be Burmarrad without the zones omitted by the authorities. Burmarrad belongs to all those who live in it; however, as things stand, there will be Burmarradin who will be excluded from enjoying the benefits of the introduction of the administrative councils.
It is highly unfair that people who have been wronged by the Electoral Commission’s mistakes should be penalised.
Such errors should be rectified immediately.
Ray Bartolo, PN Councillor for St Paul’s Bay and PN Candidate for the Administrative Committee for Burmarrad and Wardija.