On football, road repairs and French tourists

Sliema mayor Robert Arrigo is certainly an optimist. Today he tells RAY ABDILLA that Sliema Wanderers’ luck will change and hopefully, residents will start appreciating their new pavements…

As Sliema mayor, he has been criticised for allowing the local council to make donations to sports associations, including the football club of which he is president. And as an incoming tour operator, he has also had to deal with the aftermath of 11 September and its impact on our tourism industry.

But Robert Arrigo remains ebullient, optimistic and industrious, shrugging off life’s problems, both large and small.

Tourism, he says, is picking up and the interim drop was inevitable, but the Labour party is always looking for things to criticise.

"In fact, since the Malta Labour Party started contesting the local council elections they have changed their way of working and spend most of their time trying to destabilise things and trying to stop important work getting done," he says.

On the thorny donation issue, he explains that the local council had agreed on a policy of helping sports associations who were helping Sliema’s name abroad.

"All Sliema FC received was Lm2,000, something which was approved by an MLP councillor, whilst I did not vote on the issue. It was not only the football club which gained some revenue but also the Sliema waterpolo side, which is certainly not my favourite team as I support Neptunes. But I ended up taking all the stick."

Politics, according to Mr Arrigo, is in his blood, as a look at his family tree indicates.

"My great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all into politics, so perhaps it was only natural that I came to love the subject," says the mayor, who polled around 2,400 votes at the last local council election.

So how does he cope with the pressure of being a businessman, a mayor and the president of Sliema Wanderers football club?

"By being very well organised," he answers. "I work 12 hours daily from Monday to Saturday, and on Sunday I rest. It is hard but it has now become a part of my life. I start by first going to the Sliema local council at around 8.30 a.m. and later, at approximately 10.45 a.m. I go to my office.

"At around 12.30pm I go for lunch, something which I never miss, and go back to work and stay there until 6p.m. From there, I’m off to Sliema Wanderers FC where I stay until 8.30pm."

He says that although things get hectic, he loves all aspects of his work, but adds that where football is concerned, his days are numbered.

"I’m not sure of a date, but when the time is right and I believe it is not too far away, I will step down," he says.

In fact, he admits that his side is not doing as well as expected this time round.

"But I still believe we can win the Championship," he stresses."Yes, the side is being criticised because of its lack of consistency but we are still not playing that badly and the players we bought were obtained for a good price."

Mr Arrigo also spends time abroad due to the nature of his work, which focuses on incoming French tourism.

I ask him how his business is bearing up in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks.

"Of course we felt the impact, like so many businesses, but I am confident that the sector is already showing signs of picking up," he replies. "There was a drop of around 8,000 French tourists last year choosing to come to Malta, with the biggest decrease registered in the conference sector.

"This is a popular sector of French tourism, but following the 11 September attacks the majority of the bookings were scrapped."

But, he adds, the downfall was only to be expected.

"Thankfully things are picking up. However, they will only return to normal come June of next year."

Our discussion turns to European Union membership, which Mr Arrigo views as vital for Malta’s future.

"I become more worried if I start thinking what would happen to us if we stay out instead of thinking about the benefits of joining," he says. "I know that there will be plusses and minuses when we're in this club. But that’s always the story. Even when one gets married, there have to be sacrifices, but on the other hand if one stays a bachelor there would be the main problem of solitude."

Our discussion returns to what I suspect is Mr Arrigo’s pride, the local council, although running it is sometimes a thankless task.

He stresses that the council has stuck to its pledges and carried out nearly all the work it said would be done.

"At the beginning of the formation of the local council, some people used to complain that nothing was happening," he admits. "But now, because roadworks and other construction projects are in evidence constantly, people are saying that things are in a mess!"

He adds that the Sliema local council has started a policy of fixing a street from beginning to end, after which work on another street commences.

"When people get impatient, we try to make them understand the level of work involved in dealing with the 128 streets which exist in Sliema," he points out.

In fact, problems with roads have remained high on the council’s agenda.

"According to the terms of reference, local councils can only maintain roads and not construct new ones, but we have certainly done everything within our powers to work on the roads, for everyone’s benefit," he says. "Even though sometimes it backfires on us."

Roads and pavements certainly seem to provide most of the gripes in local council work.

Mr Arrigo explains that a survey has been commissioned by a company of civil engineers whereby all the streets and pavements in the locality have been inspected and graded according to their state of repair. Moreover, recommendations have been sought with the scope to enhance and maximise the parking space in general.

"Although the main contributor to this mammoth and appreciated project was the Ministry for Environment, my council, despite its financial limitations, has contributed Lm4,000 towards the purchase and installation of all the uplighting system along the whole promenade," he says.

The mayor adds that the council has also financed the entire cost of the new playing field equipment, to the amount of Lm26,000, and has also entered into a maintenance agreement for the upkeep of the whole promenade.

Mr Arrigo points out that it is common knowledge that Sliema has an acute parking and traffic problem.

Certain measures have been taken to help this problem as well, including a project to maximise the utilisation of parking place in the locality. Parking bays have been slightly reduced in size to acceptable standards; and parking bays for motorcycles have been introduced to avoid the use of a whole bay by bikes. Moreover, in consultation with the Traffic Control Board, various traffic management schemes have also been implemented to safeguard the interests of residents.

The Sliema mayor belives that these projects will reap rewards – yet another sign of his optimistic nature.