This year’s celebration of St Gaetan’s feast in Ħamrun has again been a great success and this should be immediately attributed to the excellent work executed by the police and the unity that exists between the St Joseph and St Gaetan band clubs. Ħamrun residents filled the streets of the parish for the celebrations and once more proved how popular this feast is, in the sense that it is a feast of the masses.

As the presidents of the two band clubs and the parish priest declared, Ħamrun has succeeded in eradicating the stigma that has unjustly been penned on the parish by hearsay and the media namely that the feast of St Gaetan in Ħamrun meant scuffles and downright fighting by the supporters of the two band clubs. This was far from the truth, because not only unity and cooperation existed between the committees of the band clubs but also between their supporters. But it happened that squabbles that broke out between individuals or families were reported as big fights between rival supporters of the band clubs. Today the truth has finally prevailed and facts have been established as they really are and the media is not reporting any squabbles anymore; not only, but most are now reporting on the colourful, jollity and happy atmosphere of the Ħamrun feast. Some even splashing middle-spread coverage.

Of course, this was the result of work carried out by those in authority, at the head being the Police. Whatever is said, in order to be successful, feasts, like every other mass celebration, have to be safeguarded by the work of the police force. It is useless for the Curia to issue directives to the band clubs and burdens them with the onus of safeguarding a feast because alone they cannot contain gross misbehaviour. They can advise their supporters and exhort them to behave well and to cooperate with the police, but they cannot do more and finally the onus of the successful outcome of a feast falls on the police force. And at the feast of St Gaetan in Ħamrun this is what actually happened. The police, ably led by AC Raymond Zammit, Superintendent Charles Magri, Inspectors Robert Vella, Darryl Borg, Stephen Saliba, Kevin Farrugia and Major Mario Rotin again managed to successfully do away with the barricades which the police were accustomed to place in the main street just in case of trouble. This is because through their preparatory work before the feast and the meetings they held, the cooperation of all those involved was witnessed.

The supporters and the people in general celebrated in pleasure and tranquility, mixing with each other and drinking together on the streets, in bars and even in the band clubs themselves, a great proof of the excellent unity that exists in the parish of St Gaetan of Ħamrun.

■ Joe C. Cordina

Ħamrun