The once quiet public garden in Senglea known as il-Gardjola had become a source of public disturbance for the residents especially during the summer season because of law inobservances.  Whenever a private function is held there the State Law and a particular condition set by the Local Council, in the form under the heading: Request for the use of Gardjola Garden: Schedule A, Application G1 clause 5 reads – ‘All type of music has to be kept low so that it does not disturb the residents in the neighbourhood’, is totally ignored. 

In spite of this, no official local council representative is present to supervise the activity to safeguard the lawful rights of the residents and ensure they are not disturbed.  The latest of these functions, occurring on 3 July, lasted until after 3am and it was after midnight that the music was stopped after repeated complaints by the residents and this all happened in the presence of the police there. 

This public garden is situated very close to our houses and all the unwanted noises invade our privacy and undoubtedly that is no proper place to host such activities.  Regardless of any modest income that is earned by the council, it will be wiser to prioritise on creating a healthy and quiet environment for the residents.    

The wellbeing of the residents must be the top priority for the local council and such ill behaviour must be stopped.  To add insult to injury, relatively vast parking spaces will be made available to these ‘clients’ and lately quite a portion of Bastion Street was to be reserved for the guests, though some irritated residents removed these ‘No Parking’ signs. One cannot refrain from mentioning that on frequent occasions a mobile generator is parked very close to the nearby houses.   

When all is over, the rubbish is dumped near the bring-in sites and that surely is an embarrassment for the local council as the residents are encouraged not to leave any garbage there.  Surely, the local council has to ensure that Senglea is kept clean in order to retain its present position as the fourth cleanest place in Malta as declared by the Central Government.

On one occasion, the famous guard post that is situated at the far end of the garden was holed by nails to make temporary curtains – surely such historic structures are not to be tampered with, because if such irresponsible action is repeated, damage will be done.  As the situation is getting out of control I trust that the local government will take action to stop such abuse.  

Joseph Abela 

Senglea