In response to various videos that have surfaced online showing gangs of youths fighting in Sliema’s streets, Sliema Mayor John Pillow has said that “this has to stop.”

The Sliema Local Council recently shared a video showing a group of youths pushing one other and fighting, an alarming new trend that has left locals "worried" and prompting several police reports.

The local council stated that these past few weekends "groups of youngsters have been vandalizing street furniture, being excessively noisy, and even fighting between themselves in Bisazza Street."

“We appeal to the competent authorities to enforce the law and protect our residents from this constant nuisance. We hope that the authorities will not wait for a serious incident to happen before action is taken,” the Council said in a statement.

When contacted for a comment, the Mayor of Sliema John Pillow told The Malta Independent that this isn’t a recent phenomenon and that there are “sometimes up to 70 eleven to fourteen-year-olds” who congregate in these areas.

“I myself go to speak with them, to explain to them that they can’t make noise because it’s a residential area, but the only thing they say is: ‘we want to have fun,’” Pillow said.

“I then tell them that they don’t need to scream and fight to have fun, to which they merely reply with various expletives,” he continued.

Pillow further mentioned the worry that drugs may be partially responsible for these outbursts.

“About a month and a half ago, there were some kids sitting down on the plaza steps and I was trying to level with them.” After the children asked whether Pillow ever engaged in drug-taking, “one of them told him: “come on, it’s fun taking drugs,” Pillow said.

“This has to stop,” he continued. “As council, we’re very worried that this situation could escalate if nothing is done to address it.”

Pillow was sure to add that he doesn’t merely rely on the evidence provided by Sliema residents but goes to these places to “see with my own eyes, so that I have direct confirmatory evidence, not mere second-hand reports.”