Former Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier has challenged his successor to “unplug (your) earphones” with regard to the noise levels at night in the capital city.

Borg Olivier, who served as Valletta mayor between 1999 and 2008, was referring to comments made by Valletta mayor Alfred Zammit in an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Zammit said that the recent controversy regarding loud music being played in Valletta establishments late at night is now under control, adding that residents were misguided on the government's legal notice.

“The legal notice is clear, music should be played at a moderate level between 11pm and 1am, meaning that I can hold a conversation with a person without having to raise my voice,” Zammit said. He added that he has often gone patrolling around Valletta himself, to check that bars and restaurants are abiding by the law.

In a post on Facebook, Borg Olivier said it was “rich” for Zammit to say that “establishments were abiding by the new legal notice related to late music in the City”.

“It would be more appropriate for him to unplug his earphones and listen to the residents’ concerns rather that defend the indefensible,” Borg Olivier said.

As I walked the areas falling within the legal notice last Friday night, sound levels where well beyond “moderate” after 11pm, and double the WHO levels for residential neighbourhoods.

Borg Olivier also uploaded photos of some areas after using a reliable decibel gauge app, which shows the level of the sound.