The existing infrastructure in St Julian’s (San Giljan) is already struggling to cope with the mounting demand as the number of permanent residents grows, together with an expanding concentration of high-rise buildings that are being constructed in the locality, mayor Guido Dalli said.
The situation is already serious, but it will become worse since more towers are being built and others are planned, he said in an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday.
Whether it is traffic, waste collection and sewage services, the infrastructure in St Julian’s is under great pressure. No day passes by without there being traffic jams along its main roads, in particular the street leading from Balluta towards Paceville and St Andrews.
Like other localities in the area, such as Swieqi and Sliema, the waste problem has been described as a “crisis” and a few weeks ago Dalli, together with the mayors of the two other localities, took journalists on a trip to show them the extent of the disaster.
Add sewage overflows and power cuts, and one has the perfect concoction of a locality whose infrastructure cannot deal with the expanding population, as well as the daily influx of people who work in the area and the many tourists who either make St Julian’s their home for a few days, or who visit the locality during their holiday or for business.
St Julian’s is renowned for its entertainment side, with many hotels, restaurants, clubs and bars dotting this popular hub. Paceville, which falls under the responsibility of the St Julian’s council, attracts thousands of revellers – local and foreign – every day, in particular during the weekend.
Dalli expressed his concerns on this over-development within the locality and its ramifications on the infrastructure, citing that “there is going to be a serious issue” once the ongoing mega developments are completed. The mayor also described the high-rise buildings in St Julian’s as an eyesore.
He said that the infrastructure is inadequate for the demand that there is, and this is already causing drainage overflows in multiple areas across the whole locality. People are sent to resolve the issue, but the repairs can only last so much until the overflow happens again.
Dalli told this newsroom that in the days preceding the interview, the local council had aided in handling a drainage issue in Birkirkara Road. He said that he was aware that people fixed part of the problem, though he was unsure if the overflowing drainage in that road had been eliminated completely.
He also pointed out that overflowing drainage is also regularly observed in the Spinola area, specifically close to the famous Love monument. He said that this is a constant source of water pollution since the drainage seeps into the surrounding sea. In summer, this area is frequented by many swimmers. The Balluta Bay area has also been hit by a drainage overflow, with the Department of Information issuing a notice on 19 August that swimming is not recommended there due to bacterial contamination. Nearly three weeks later, the problem persists.
The PN mayor noted that particular care must be taken in Paceville due to the planned mega developments within this dense area. He told this newsroom: “When these towers open, the infrastructure is not going to keep up with the types of buildings that will be there. Don’t forget, there are going to be shops, offices, and apartments.”
He also remarked that trenching works were meant to take place in Paceville Avenue last January to begin changing some drainage pipes. However, due to a number of technical issues, these works were delayed and have as yet to start.
Dalli said that despite these sewage pipes not having been replaced or upgraded, parts of the nearby gigantic Mercury Tower are supposed to open later this month. The St Julian’s local council now hopes that issues with regard to the infrastructure – not only sewage – do not surface before any work that is required takes place. The council also hopes that these drainage works can be done as soon as possible, i.e., as soon as the touristic period ends at the end of September, before the situation exacerbates.
The mayor also told this newsroom that whether they are wanted or not, more high-rise buildings are set to be developed in the commercialised town. He remarked how the DB project in Pembroke – at the former ITS site – was approved despite opposition from residents, NGOs, and the three nearby local councils of Pembroke, Swieqi, and St Julian’s. Dalli believes that this construction will negatively affect St George’s Bay and visiting tourists’ experiences in the area for at least 2-5 years while the mega-project is being built.
Mayor Dalli also expressed concern about the repercussions the quiet town of Pembroke may face once major projects are completed within the area that straddles both localities. Dalli told this newsroom that there are fears that following this project, there will be a greater demand for the further commercialisation of Pembroke, with more shops, restaurants, and takeaway outlets that could eventually alter the locality’s entire character.
Since Dalli was one of the mayors present for the Nationalist Party’s press conference raising awareness towards the “national waste crisis” last month, the pertinent problem of waste management was also discussed during this interview.
Dalli said that St Julian’s has a big problem with waste management and collection, though he admitted that when the issue is further analysed, it becomes clearer that the culprits are people who are residing in rented residences.
In areas where properties are rented out, the waste problem is much bigger than in other parts of the locality, Dalli told this newsroom.
The mayor explained some suggestions proposed by the Nationalist Party last year to tackle the ongoing waste crisis, which he perfectly agrees with. These were to increase the frequency of waste collection services, for a system of coordination between local councils and apartment blocks to be established, for a better enforcement against environmental crimes, and for local councils to be given back the responsibilities of waste management and waste collection. On the final point, the Opposition also called for local councils to henceforth receive more resources, including funding, to better tackle and improve upon this situation.
Elaborating, Dalli stated that a study must first be done to identify which localities truly and clearly have a waste issue, naming Sliema, St Julian’s, St Paul’s Bay, Gżira, and Swieqi as examples. He then said that it makes little sense for quiet places such as Għarb, Gozo to be compared to, for example, St Paul’s Bay. Yet this is how waste collection is tackled uniformly across all localities in the Maltese islands. He reiterated numerous times that identifying those localities that need more assistance in dealing with the waste issue is the first step towards a solution.
“You cannot compare Għarb to St. Paul’s Bay; walking through Buġibba is depressing to see it in its present state,” Dalli said.
The St Julian’s mayor was then quite critical of the government’s approach to this entire ordeal, saying that this slippery slope first began when this competence was taken away from local councils and granted to the regional committees.
He said that before going ahead with this reform seemingly for the sake of it, the government should have realised that the majority of Malta’s population increase over the last decade affected the Northern Harbour region, and therefore, repeated the need to differentiate between localities that had to deal with a heavy influx of newcomers and others which more or less retained the same population.
“This is an issue which requires just common sense to understand what’s going on,” he said.
Moreover, he better contact can be established with the managers of condominiums in St Julian’s and by potentially threatening residential permits since “law enforcement – in the case of waste collection – is not going to solve the problem”.
“If these permits are put at risk, I bet you that everyone will cooperate.”
Aside from the difficulty in identifying the culprits behind poor waste disposal from within these apartment blocks, Dalli said that many tourists take out their bags of rubbish haphazardly due to a sense of conformity after observing many black bags being carelessly left out on the pavements at incorrect days and times.
He also believes that the government should be more pre-emptive in its efforts to tackle the issue and start from now, rather than wait till Parliament reopens in October to only then start collecting feedback.
At the end of August, Sliema residents held a protest to voice their frustrations on the worsening quality of life for residents in the town. Residents had complained about noise disturbances, abundant waste, rats, as well as lagging infrastructure for their increasing population. Many issues raised in the Sliema protest seem to be shared by other neighbouring localities within the Northern Harbour region, namely overpopulation, inadequate waste management, and overdevelopment amongst others.
Referencing the Paceville Avenue project, the mayor said that once the new sewage system is put in place, works shall continue to build a garden as part of the same project. This is being done since St Julian’s as a whole only has a handful of green spaces.
When green spaces became the topic of discussion, the mayor said that while there are very little rural areas, “the urban area is already so overpopulated”. He elaborated that any new developments come at the expense of older buildings, which are being pulled down to make way for blocks of apartments, going higher and higher.
“St Julian’s is entirely constructed,” mayor Dalli said.
On this note, he commented on the struggle that young people from St Julian’s face in purchasing a property within the locality. This is mostly because of the exorbitant prices of property, even the smallest apartments, in the town.
“Our youths are leaving the locality, moving out to living in nearby localities instead, such as San Ġwann, Swatar, etc.”
Dalli also commented on the increasing presence of foreign residents in the seaside town, explaining that these foreigners are replacing the outgoing Maltese members of the local community. According to 2021 NSO population statistics, St Julian’s demographics has a near perfect 50/50 split between Maltese and non-Maltese; from its registered population of 11,653 persons, 5,899 are Maltese residents while 5,754 are foreign residents.
In August of this summer, a popular article published by the British tabloid newspaper The Sun highlighted Malta as an ideal place for “good food, cheap booze and legal weed” while referring to Paceville and St Julian’s as a party district. When asked about his thoughts regarding this description of his hometown, Dalli replied that the entire situation, i.e., both the article and the response that followed, was quite exaggerated. Dalli commented that Paceville should not be viewed “as some hellscape”.
Following this, mayor Dalli was asked if the country is attracting the right type of tourists, to which he responded that “the incoming tourists are not tourists of quality, but of quantity”.
Heading photo credit: Karl Borg