The Msida Local Council has put forward four proposals to Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri to resolve the issue surrounding the town’s currently unavailable police station. Amongst these suggestions, the local council has offered the police the use of its own boardroom until the locality’s police station is operable again.
Two weeks ago, Msida’s mayor Charles Selvaggi wrote a letter to Minister Camilleri in which he pleaded for a solution to come to life to mitigate the town’s presently inoperable police station. This letter was sent to the Minister after the council unanimously agreed that this situation should be addressed immediately.
The local council published the letter and these developments on Wednesday, stating on social media that the police station “has already been closed for several months, and we are informed that it is not expected to be re-opened soon due to complications that arose during the renovation process.”
“The situation is not a short-term one,” said Mayor Selvaggi, “at the moment, we do not have an operating police station in Msida.”
The locality’s only police station is currently closed for renovations and is even involved in a pending court case related to the development planned for the building.
The Malta Independent understands that the police station has now been closed for renovations for 10 months, with Msida residents being constrained to travelling to the Sliema police station should any services be required.
“The lack of police station is frustrating for the residents, especially as we have an aging population, and individuals needing police assistance in the locality may not always be able to access a police station that is outside the locality,” wrote Mayor Selvaggi while expressing his concern about this issue to the Security Minister.
The Msida Local Council offered its boardroom as a last-ditch effort should its other three proposals not be possible, “so at least residents will be served.”
As a first option, the local council proposed renting the town’s old police station located in Rue d’Argens until the present issue is resolved. On behalf of his local council, Mayor Selvaggi remarked that “this may be the most sensible option, if possible, to attain.”
As a back-up plan to this idea, the local council called for police to be given a temporary station in the new social housing building in the locality. It was added that the problem could be resolved if the Housing Authority could provide police with use of just the ground floor of this premises.
The final contingency suggested prior to the local council’s boardroom offer was for a temporary station to be set up in the centre of the village – “similar to the one in Ħamrun.”
The Msida Local Council said that it is still waiting for the minister to respond and request a meeting with them to discuss this matter further, two weeks later.
“We are waiting for the Minister’s response so that we can give Msida’s residents a police station and peace of mind,” the local council stated.