Recently-elected Nationalist mayor of St Paul’s Bay, Censu Galea, said that nobody is happy with the waste collection, or lack thereof, in St Paul’s Bay, and that it is clear that there is no real presence of the Environment and Resources Authority’s (ERA) so-called green wardens in the streets.
St Paul’s Bay is one of the localities which was won over by the PN in the last local council elections, with Galea, a former minister and MP, acquiring the most votes to become mayor of the huge locality, incorporating St Paul’s Bay, Qawra, Bugibba, Xemxija and Burmarrad. Galea mentioned that one significant challenge he will encounter in the next five years in his role is the issue of black waste bags being placed on doorsteps on incorrect days, primarily by foreign residents. He said that this problem results from an “imposed system” where all of Malta changed its waste-collection schedule to be the same for all localities. The black bag containing general waste is collected on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Aside from this, Galea also said that the existing mentality is that while the Maltese have to follow the rules, foreigners – who make up a sizeable chunk of the locality’s population – seem not to care about the regulations, and take out the black bag whenever they want.
Galea said that complaining is useless when action is not taken in this regard. "First we have to try to explain to them, and if they do not comply, legal action must be taken, otherwise we will never get there," Galea said, acknowledging that there are many of those who are simply not aware of the regulations.
He said that despite the recent law, which caps the number of residents allowed in a single apartment to six people, he believed that there are situations where the number is higher than that.
"This brings about a situation where, in a small apartment with many people residing in it, the waste will increase in volume, and cannot be left inside in the days between collection," Galea said, adding that this results into black bags being left outside for days on end.
He said that this challenge needs to be faced, and looked forward to more collaboration with the departments concerned on integration of foreigners into the locality.
Parliamentary secretary for the Local Government Alison Zerafa Civelli had told The Malta Independent on Sunday in an interview that the government had conducted a scientific study on people's thoughts about the new waste-collection schedule, which resulted that the majority of people are satisfied with the domestic waste collection service, after the Regional Councils took over the tender for the operator due to economies of scale.
Asked about this, Galea said this was one of the "fairy tales" he has heard, and this does not result in St Paul's Bay.
"We are all very, very worried that collection is not being done properly," Galea said, pointing out discrepancies in the time in which waste collection should be collected, and the time in which waste is actually collected, even if the waste bags are not put outside illegally.
He said that he wants to discuss the issue in the next meeting with the Regional Council, as "nobody is happy with the situation".
Galea also said that there is also space to improve the service of green wardens sent out by the ERA.
He added that he had spoken with the ERA, who informed him that they deploy wardens to various localities each week.
"When I asked how many fines these wardens gave out, the response was that they did not know," Galea said, indicating that wardens are not being sent out to monitor localities.
"If there was a real presence of green wardens, the people would see them, at some point or another," Galea said, adding that he was convinced that nobody knows about the existence of these green wardens.
He said that he wants to meet with the wardens, ask them where they had been, what they have seen, and what fines they have issued. Galea said it was incredulous that certain streets have black bags on pavements for a whole week, yet no warden had been seen, let alone seen giving out fines.
Galea said he would be pointing out the locality's black spots upon meeting the green wardens.
Once fully occupied, a single street in St Paul’s Bay will house 3,000 residents
Galea was asked if realistically, the council could mitigate overdevelopment in St Paul's Bay.
He said that people often think that the local council has something to do with issuing permits for development, but in reality, the only thing the council can do in the event of controversial development applications is represent the locality when objecting.
"In relatively large projects, the council also has its representative to go and communicate the council's position, but there are many other representatives present and if they all vote in favour of the development, everything stops there," Galea said.
He continued that overdevelopment in St Paul's Bay has become a pertinent issue. Galea said that up until 20 years ago, the highest permissible number of floors a building could have was four floors.
"Today, even with the way the rules have changed by the Planning Authority, we have many buildings with eight floors, seven floors and a penthouse," Galea pointed out.
He said that many areas which had houses where a single family lived have been taken over by several apartments built instead, with all the consequences it brings in terms of the locality's infrastructure.
Galea said that once all residents occupy the apartment blocks in Triq it-Tamar in St Paul's Bay, there will be more than 3,000 people living in this street. It will be "a village in one street".
The biggest problem, as a consequence of this, is that the infrastructure cannot handle the amount of residents occupying the apartment blocks.
Galea stated that another major issue in the locality is the drainage system, which is not designed to handle the influx of residents. He said that the drainage system in St Paul’s Bay was built at a time when hundreds used to live there; now there are thousands.
"In fact, in most places there is the drainage odour, and each day, we receive reports of drainage being dumped at sea," Galea said, adding that more consequences arise due to the fact that the locality's roads are made with softer materials.
Galea said that the locality has around 300 roads, and not even 10 of these roads have appropriate pavements for pedestrians. He emphasised the need for significant investment in this area and expressed hope that the council would secure funding from some source to address the issue, as the council itself does not have the funds.
He said that these apartments will continue to be developed, which means the number of apartments for sale will continue to increase. Galea pointed out an interesting statistic indicating that St. Paul's Bay continues to be the locality with the highest number of property sales.
Tourist behaviour must be taken into consideration
Galea was asked if the locality should resort to measures which try to curb overtourism in the area, such as introducing an entry free, as some cities abroad have done.
"It is a controversial subject, especially when so many hotels and restaurants rely on tourists for their income," Galea said, also mentioning the misuse of public beaches and the controversy surrounding deckchairs.
Rather than reducing or limiting tourism, Galea said that the way the tourist behaves must also be taken into consideration.
He said that the control on certain areas in the locality must increase, pointing out certain tourists’ indecency in the streets.
Galea said that there are certain people who walk in the streets in the same attire they would wear at the beach, and most of the time it is indecent.
He mentioned an establishment in St Paul's Bay, which apart from the excessive noise, there are also several people attending, dressed up "totally indecent". This may result in inadvertently attracting the wrong attention, which could escalate into more difficult situations, Galea said.
Lack of integration
Galea mentioned another challenge; that of a lack of integration of foreigners residing in the locality. He said that in the past, there were already many nationalities living in the locality, with the number now increasing greatly.
He said that the number of people from the Philippines and India have increased substantially, as well as Pakistani people.
Galea said that, unfortunately, some of the foreign residents either do not want to change their customs while living in Malta or else have not been informed enough on what is acceptable and unacceptable in the country.
"This is creating lots of clashes," Galea said. He mentioned a by-law which prohibits the consumption of alcohol outdoors in the locality, which is totally being ignored by foreign residents.
Regarding an integration programme, Galea mentioned that a meeting was organised for foreign residents to discuss various issues. However, only one non-Maltese person attended.
"I will be looking forward so that if there is any possibility of meetings where we can try to integrate society better, we will organise them," Galea said, adding that the more the resident, foreign or not, is aware of their rights and responsibilities, the better.
He pointed out two primary schools in the locality, that of St Paul's Bay and that of Qawra, both of which have a larger number of foreign students than Maltese.
"That exposes the reality in St Paul's Bay of how many nationalities reside here, and the attitude is difficult to control," Galea said.
With the reality that today, most parents both work, Galea said that there are also a number of unsupervised youths on the streets, some of whom create disturbances in the locality, which the council is working on addressing.
He said that unfortunately, the locality has also failed to develop more spaces where youths can frequent, as there are not enough.
Galea was asked if the number of people who are homeless have increased in the locality. He said that the council regularly receives reports of people sleeping on benches or reports of people using public bathrooms to bathe themselves.
"Let us say that it is not alarming, as of now. But the problem has grown, and will continue to grow," Galea warned.
Hotel eco-contributions, paid fines should be re-invested in locality
In an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday last year, the former mayor Alfred Grima had said that the locality does not receive enough funding for the population it has. Asked if he concurred, Galea said that aside from funding for residents, the locality also has a large number of businesses to cater for, each of which pay a number of fees for licences.
He suggested that a part of the payments businesses have to make could be used by the local council for the residents' benefit. Galea said that the eco-contribution paid by tourists in hotels and long-term accommodations in St Paul's Bay also generates quite some money
"Why not use that money in the locality itself?" Galea asked. He said that some funds are used, but the council is never aware or informed on what they will be used for.
Galea said that the council must be aware of the existence of the funds and must be informed when the funds are being spent on something for the locality.
"I will be insisting with the authorities to see to it that the eco-contributions paid, if not all, some should be used for the needs of the locality," Galea said. Funds, which come from citations and fines people pay, should also be coordinated and re-invested into the locality.
More collaboration with police required to address St Paul’s Bay crime problem
Galea was asked about crime in St Paul's Bay, where recent NSO statistics reported that the locality has the largest number of reported thefts, as well as domestic violence incidents.
Galea said that this is a problem which requires more collaboration with the police. He acknowledged the positive work done by the community police officers, however, this service stops when the day ends, and there are not enough officers to cover all areas of the locality.
"We have 300 roads, we obviously cannot expect 300 officers, but this shows that there is not enough police for the whole area. On that front, crime has to be tackled in a different way," Galea said, adding that certain areas are more hot spots for crime than others.
He mentioned that he would be meeting with district and community police to address the situation and focus more on the hotspots.
The second part of the interview will be carried tomorrow