Home Affairs Minister Emmanuel Mallia said that the aim of reinstating former police constables on a part time basis was to fill in the gap while new recruits are trained and eventually graduate as police officers.

A number of individuals who formed part of the Police Force in the past have been reinstated over recent months.

"When I took over the ministry, we found that the Police Force was short of 400 or so officers.

"One cannot simply take to the streets in search of people to join the force; anybody who joins the force has to undergo training at the academy and this does not happen overnight.

"We have had, for the past 10 months, over 100 recruits undergoing training and they will be graduating soon," Dr Mallia explained.

The minister said that the part time constables are to be kept on board despite the fact that new recruits are to join the Force soon.

"This measure has helped ensure that the lack of staff complement is not as drastic as when we took office.

"We will also have special training organised for tourism police and the special constabulary members I feel would really fit in well in this particular role," Dr Mallia said.

Police academy to become college

Dr Mallia said that "we are reforming the academy and would like to establish a police college which is quite a different concept to that of an academy".

The minister intends moving, for the approval of Cabinet, certain amendments in the law to establish this college.

"The aim of all this is to ensure that all members of the Police Corps have the right training at every level and for every individual.

"In this way we hope we can try changing a culture by introducing the concept of community policing, where the policeman is your friend.

When the Police Corp was formed in 1814 the idea was to have the policeman on the street but due to advanced technology, police are now at the station and not out on the street.

"So this is why I would like community policing, in a bid to reassure the public that the policeman is there for everyone.

"And with the Rapid Intervention Unit (RIU), nowadays policemen are there on the spot in the shortest time possible," he said.

Skiving prison warders

A small number of prison warders had been caught skiving while on duty but were only given a few days suspension. Asked if this was normal practice, Dr Mallia replied: "Yes, it is but I think the most important thing in that incident was the fact that these warders were found out.

"This was a practice that had been taking place for quite a while and it is not something which happened yesterday; their suspension should serve as an example for others who may have done the same.

"The five days suspension is the maximum one can receive according to regulations of the Public Service Commission," Dr Mallia highlighted.

Malta's umpteenth call for EU assistance on migrant flows

On being asked if Malta's umpteenth calls for the EU's support have fallen on deaf ears, Dr Mallia said: "I can assure you that ever since I was appointed minister I attended the Council of Ministers for the Interior and have made the same point very clear over and over again.

"What I am happy about is that contrary to the past, where the subject never came up during the council of ministers meeting, or rather was sidelined, thanks to the intervention of countries like Italy, Greece, and Malta the subject is on the agenda," he said.

Minister Mallia also referred to the Migrants' Task Force for EU Member States report issued late last year and said that ever since the report was issued, the subject always comes up alongside discussions tied to the report's proposals.

"I have also had various bilateral meetings on burden sharing with my counterpart Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU foreign affairs commissioner. (She is soon to step down from her post since her term is about to expire).

"Malta has always made its voice heard on burden sharing, something we have always advocated and will continue to advocate."

When asked if he feels Ms Malmstrom was instrumental in assisting Malta in this regard, he said that the commissioner has done her utmost.

"Due to the fact that the concept of burden sharing did not exist within Member States, meaning that no Member State was obliged to take in a number of irregular immigrants who landed on the shore of smaller European states, one had to base oneself on the voluntary acceptance of Member States taking any number of migrants.

"In this regard Ms Malmstrom has tried to convince other member countries to do so and Malta has been successful in convincing other countries as well to take in some of the illegal immigrants who landed here; the commissioner was doing her duty all along and our views were always heard."

Asked if he was aware of Malmstrom's visit to Malta earlier this month, since the minister was on holiday with his family in Romania at the time of her visit, Dr Mallia said he was not but he had already booked and paid his tickets and those of his family before it was made known that she was to come to Malta.

"She fully understood the situation on explaining to her my situation," he said, adding that the main scope of her Malta visit was not to visit our ministries but to hold a meeting at the head office of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) based in Marsa.

"I am a minister in a team and my fellow ministers welcomed her and held meetings with her while here," he said.

Intentional ramming of migrant boat by smugglers

Dr Mallia said that the Malta Police have recorded interviews of survivors of the ordeal since this tragic event happened in Malta's Search and Rescue area.

Two Saturdays ago, around five hundred migrants perished after traffickers rammed their boat intentionally due to the fact that the migrants refused to be transferred to a smaller boat. One of the migrants also had his hands chopped off after trying to cling to the traffickers' boat in a desperate bid to save his life.

"Investigations are still ongoing and the police are also seeking cooperation with other countries to try and bring the wrongdoers to face justice," he said, adding that the migrants went through a horrifying experience.

Porporina case not political, Minister insists

Turning to the case of Alfred Bugeja, more known as il Porporina, a convicted criminal whose privileges were removed after drug tests showed that he had Opiates in his system, Dr Mallia denied that the inmate was discriminated against while also insisting that his case was not political.

This newsroom had reported claims made by the inmate that he was discriminated against by Prisons Director Simon Buttigieg (who was appointed a few months ago), a claim which was strongly denied by Mr Buttigieg. This newsroom had also reported that a few days prior to the drug tests, the inmate had been injected with local anaesthetic so that surgeons could perform an operation on him after he had been diagnosed with skin cancer.

"This person in question was unfortunately found in possession of illegal drugs and the Corradino Correctional Facility (CCF) is a place where one should reform him/herself and a place of discipline, as we have always stated.

"What happened to him, that is losing his privileges as a result, would happen to anybody found to be in possession of drugs," an adamant Dr Mallia emphasised.

"We do not want any illegal drugs in prison; we are doing our utmost in order to eradicate this and we do not want any persons who might have not touched drugs before to find themselves in a place where there is access to drugs."

Sniffer dogs had become inmates' pets

In a bid to deal with this problem, the government has purchased a number of sniffer dogs.

"The dogs will not be stationed at the CCF since in the past sniffer dogs ended up the pets of the inmates, however they will be brought over to CCF when necessary for on the spot checks."

"As you know I have ordered that urine or blood samples are taken of inmates to ensure that the prison will be drug free as much as possible. Even staff are being tested.

"This is what seriousness entails," he said.

Mobile police stations to be introduced in Paceville, Marsascala

Minister Mallia meanwhile strongly denied that the number of policemen on the beat in Paceville has been reduced.

"The number of personnel at the St Julian's police station has been increased and Paceville is being given its utmost attention, so much so that in the coming days, we will be introducing the concept of mobile police stations in entertainment hubs such as Paceville and Marsascala which will cater for the needs of these areas, among others.

"The mobile stations are equipped to fulfill duties in the same way they are fulfilled in a police station.

"To add to this we have opened a police station in Swieqi and Pieta while the Rapid Intervention Unit is frequently patrolling hot spots such as St Julian's and Paceville.

"We have also introduced foot patrols and very soon we will be providing Lambretta style motor cycles to each district so police can attend to their duties faster while also utilising them for patrolling purposes in certain localities," the minister said.

 'Dispute' between One TV chairman and PBS CEO

On being asked how he intends tackling the 'uncomfortable' ongoing situation that has  arisen between Jason Micallef, who is V18 chairman and Labour's One TV chairman, and Anton Attard, the CEO of the national broadcasting station who was appointed under a Nationalist government and kept on board by this administration,  Dr Mallia said that there's nothing much to be done.

"Jason is a good friend of mine; I have great respect for the man and I know he is the head of another television station, and I wish him well and respect him for that. But PBS, falls under my remit and the persons responsible there are the ones the PBS board feels are the competent persons to work there and I do not think there should be any conflict whatsoever.

"As for myself, I have no conflicts at all and I am satisfied on how PBS is being run," Dr Mallia said.