The recently-elected mayor of the St Paul's Bay local council emphasised that her council faced an uphill struggle since its Labour Party-led predecessor has left it saddled with some €425,000 in debts.
At a press conference held near the Wignacourt Tower, mayor Graziella Galea highlighted that the local council's expenditure in the first four months of this year was actually one and a half times its financial allocation for the entire 2015.
The council, she explained, had debts amounting to a little over €150,000 at the end of 2014. But over the next few months - with a local council election campaign in full swing in what was arguably the most hotly-contested locality - the debt increased by €274,000 as spending ran out of control.
Ms Galea had served a full term as mayor between 2008 and 2012 before Labour won control of the locality for the first time. The PN regained control of the council last April.
The mayor pointed out that when Labour gained control of the locality in 2012, the council had a surplus of €184,418, as well as an additional €442,945 to spend on road works.
Ms Galea highlighted that the council's debt may actually be worse than expected, as is appeared that the council has not yet received the bills for all the works which may have been carried out before this year's election.
She said that this year's budget would have to be reviewed, and that a midterm audit would be carried out.
The PN's local councils spokesman, David Agius, said that it was regrettable that the only legacy left by the Labour-led local council was debt, and said that St Paul's Bay residents deserved to be fully informed of the situation.
He also urged the government to increase its financial allocation to local councils, pointing out that many councils have publicly complained about the little funds they received, and that this has led to the recent resignation of Tarxien mayor Joseph Abela.
Mr Agius also took the opportunity to criticise the government's plans to cancel the 2017 round of local council elections, which would see every local council remain in office until 2019.
He noted that among other things, this meant that the residents of Tarxien would have to spend four years without a mayor they voted for, before appealing to the government to reconsider its decision.