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James Debono
A bye-law prohibiting “loitering” in St Luke square outside the general hospital in Pietà has driven junkies who hang around the Detox centre downhill, to the Msida area frequented by Junior College students.
900 heroin addicts currently frequent the detox centre, just a step away from the St Luke’s Hospital for methadone treatment. Since 300 of these are unemployed, and many used to spend their day hanging around the hospital area. Unsurprisingly, the place also used to attract pushers.
The bye-law, which came into force in July, defines loitering as the persistent presence of any person for no apparent reason in the square. It excludes persons carrying out an official duty in the square. Anyone found loitering in the square is liable to a Lm30 fine.
Pietà mayor Sunny Attard is satisfied with the results of the bye-law: “The number of people hanging around the square has decreased drastically,” he told MaltaToday.
Yet as a consequence of this draconian law, junkies simply shifted down St Luke’s hill to an area next to the Winter Bar in Msida. Residents living in this area have complained to the Msida council that drug abusers were even taking drugs in broad daylight. They have even backed their claims with photos.
Msida mayor Alex Sciberras has asked the police to intervene and as a result of a number of police raids in the area, the number of junkies gathering in Msida has decreased during the past week.
Yet Sciberras will not follow the example set by the Pietà council: “I cannot impose a bye-law banning loitering in an area frequented by Junior College students who spend their free lessons in the same area,” Sciberras told Maltatoday.
Yet, by simply clamping down on heroin addicts without offering any long-term solution, the authorities are only managing to shift the problem from one place to another. “Surely we were concerned that heroin addicts used to spend a lot of time next to the Detox centres in the company of pushers, but a bye-law which simply shifts the problem elsewhere is not the solution,” Caritas spokesperson Charles Miceli said.
Caritas is proposing that methadone is distributed in a number of polyclinics interspersed around the island, rather than one central place attracting hundreds of heroin users. “Currently we have 900 heroin users who have to gather in one place to get their dose. In this way a 17-year-old user ends up meeting hardcore junkies.”
Caritas is also doing its part to provide shelter for heroin addicts during the day. As part of its harm reduction programme, Caritas is operating a drop-in centre where heroin addicts can pop in from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. In the drop-in centre, users can eat something and watch TV in the company of professional staff.
“Instead of wondering about in the streets or in bars, they can find shelter in an environment where they can also get professional advice,” Miceli said, who added that Caritas needs more support from the government in order to operate the centre, which reaches out to a greater number of addicts.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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