Did it have to be last year’s first New Year’s Eve party at Floriana to trigger off the Valletta local council to organise something on the same lines? Has it never dawned on them to hold a New Year’s Eve Party in the Capital city of Malta as does every country in Europe or in the world for that matter? Where has everybody been this last century?

The Floriana mayor was bold enough to hold this first event in Malta in his home town, when no one else tried. With all its probable shortcomings; it was still a success, as it was in 2009.

And the Valletta Mayor came up with the brilliant idea to hold another party a stone’s throw away; this after the necessary permits had been already issued to the Floriana council to hold this event, then he says that Floriana should not have been granted permission to hold the celebration.

He also has the gall to accuse the Floriana council of pique! This could only happen in Malta, a small island barely 22 miles across with two main events sitting on top of each other.

Now the Valletta local council is trying to find a scapegoat for its shortcomings and lack of serious planning and obviously the nearest straw it could clutch at is as usual, Floriana, where every and any time a spectacle drawing thousands of people is to be held, the Floriana Granaries is chosen.

The Floriana mayor had every right to hold the party in St Anne’s Street as this had been a success the year before, and in case of bad weather, people could shelter underneath the arcades.

There is more than one entrance to the City and it they are used when major events are held in St Anne’s Street or when Valletta football supporters want to vent their joy or their wrath, depending on the outcome of a football match, and are refused passage through this thoroughfare by the Police.

■ Peter Barbara

Fgura