The tribulations that led to the dissolution of the Sliema local council are now well known and documented.

All councillors who worked in good faith know that the council couldn’t work in the situation that had evolved. This is beyond politics, but all councillors, and residents know that de facto the council could not function due to the various resignations, floor-crossing and so on.

The lack of a clear majority resulted in a difficult working environment with the mayor continuously threatened that her stands would result in a lack of quorum. This is not in the best interests of the Sliema residents who had voted unequivocally in favour of a council led by PN councillors.

I am proud say that I have served loyally my locality under three mayors – Arrigo, Dimech and Gonzi. My loyalty to the residents, the mayor and the party on whose ticket I contested were the ideals that guided me throughout my tenure as a Sliema local councillor. It is with this track record that I put my name forward for re-election in the upcoming local council election.

I look forward to serve my locality again in whatever position the residents elect me, however I must state that I will not back off from shouldering any responsibility, if I have the highest number of votes among the PN candidates.

The short term of office of the next council will mean that whoever is elected has a clear programme of deliverables to carry out in a short term.

I have some priorities that I will work tirelessly at to see included in the party’s programme for the upcoming elections.

These include: Reinstating sub-committees in Sliema. These should be made of residents with a council member on the committee to guide the residents. These sub-committees should include: tourism, environment, youths, sports, foreigners living in Sliema, the elderly, and the cultural events committee.

We should make use of the €3 million commuted parking scheme funds that are available to the Sliema Local Council and with them build two car parks – one under the swings in Tower Road next to ‘It-Torri’ and another near the Qui-si-Sana new garden. Residents parking scheme would only be introduced once adequate alternative parking is offered. I personally do not believe in large-scale car parks as they bring traffic, pollution and congestion. There are more car parks planned but this is in one year.

We would rebuild four streets under the public private partnership scheme and get back on track where we left off months ago.

We would change the current street-sweeping contractors as we currently have litter pickers not street sweepers. This contract is very old and we need a new service with better technology.

Upgrade the Three Trees area using the urban improvement funds that are available and reduce the congestion.

Build a water catchment system in Dingli Street and Tower Road that would lead to a new reservoir. This way we also collect water that gathers in a number of shelters around the Dingli Street area and reduce the humidity in the number of houses close by.

Produce a documentary and back up memories of WW2. Unfortunately, this generation of people are dying and unless we have their memoirs and stories all will be lost with them. We would then produce a DVD on this.

Organise, with the help of the sub-committee, weekly events for the elderly. Their number is constantly growing and the council only has a database of a few hundred. We need to expand this service to all the elderly and offer everything from fitness and outings activities to social and informative sessions.

My appeal is for Sliema residents to reaffirm their trust in the councillors contesting on the PN ticket. The party has taken decisive action against councillors who went against the party’s principles and ethics, even though this resulted in losing a clear majority.

Julian Galea is a former councillor and PN candidate