WATCH | Noel Muscat: ‘We have to kill the spider, not simply remove the cobweb’

Noel Muscat is frustrated that his constant protestations with the authorities to change planning policies have for the past 12 years fallen on deaf ears.

As Swieqi mayor he wants new policies to better regulate short-let apartments, which are the source of a lot of problems in his locality. These flats attract young tourists, who find it convenient to ‘sleep’ in Swieqi, a stones-throw away from Malta’s entertainment Mecca—Paceville.

Muscat tells me as we sit down in the boardroom of the Swieqi local council that the owners of these short-let apartments simply place garbage bags on the pavement at all times of the day. “Enforcement is important,” he tells me, but insists what is more crucial is policy changes that make it incumbent on developers to include waste collection depots within the buildings.

But more significant for Muscat is the need for a carrying capacity study to be carried out in Swieqi.

“I am not insisting on this because the PN came out with it—this council unanimously approved such a study. I have asked for it from the authorities at least three times before and I did so because I genuinely want to know what this locality can cope with,” he says.

The following is an excerpt of the interview.

The reason for my being here is an email I received from you with tens of photos of black bag waste piling up on the streets of Swieqi, a situation you described as a crisis. Why is it a crisis?

When you have a problem and it remains unsolved it becomes a crisis. And this is why we are in a crisis because the problem did not start today but in 2016 when the locality was involved in a pilot project for organic waste separation. We had stopped the seven-day collection of [mixed] black bag waste and started with organic waste separation… and when I see that I have been, since then, raising the subject, holding press conferences, writing in newspapers, speaking in the media, sending photos and having no success despite numerous meetings…

But what is the problem?

The source of the problem in our locality is short-let apartments and we said this back in 2016 in a report we penned and gave to then minister Edward Zammit Lewis just six weeks after we started the organic waste separation. We noticed that the problem was coming from short-let apartments and we asked for cooperation… we spoke about cleanliness and noted that short-let apartments were ‘mushrooming’ in the locality… This document asked for assurances that everyone with short-let accommodation is paying a licence and we also proposed solutions such as the introduction of administrators…

I understand that the problem with short-lets is that they accommodate people who are here on holiday for a short period…

Let me be clear; I am not against short-lets and I defend them but in our locality the problem is coming from these apartments. What happens is that in these apartments it is a cleaner or the owner who comes to clean up after guests leave and if there is nowhere to store the waste [in the building] they end up taking out the bag on the pavement.

[…]

The cleaning of these apartments happens seven days a week, 24 hours a day… there is massive demand for short-lets and occupancy turnover is constant. They do not spend a day without guests in them—somebody leaves at 10am and by 4pm new tenants move in.

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How can permits continue being given when these apartment blocks do not have a dedicated space where waste can be stored on-site? Why is it that some identify the furthest garage in the complex that is hard to reach as a waste storage area and where the waste collectors have no access to? Why is no action being taken?

[…]

I have asked for a carrying capacity study to be carried out in Swieqi, long before the PN came out with its proposal because in the locality I have a problem of open spaces, accessibility, lack of sport facilities…

Swieqi does not have the same touristic establishments neighbouring localities like Sliema and St Julian’s have. Nonetheless, it is on the periphery and just a step away from Paceville with these short-lets probably satisfying the demand of a younger demographic that visits Malta for entertainment purposes. Waste is just one aspect of the problem but has it reached a climax or going forward you anticipate this getting worse?

Apart from waste we also have a big problem of night time noise and vandalism. These short-lets attract young people. I know people who operate short-lets in Birgu and Mdina and they do not have these problems [because the demographic making use of them is different]. These young people are uncontrolled; they come here for fun, and I salute them but they are in the wrong place. Swieqi is a residential area; it is not a commercial area. We are de-naturing our locality. The carpet is being pulled from beneath our feet but we realised this and yet the authorities fail to act… residents are very angry…

Two issues are at stake here: The policy that dictates what can be built and enforcement…

But the policy was written many years ago and was not adjusted to today’s reality… in Swieqi you cannot build a hotel or a guesthouse because it is a residential area but apartments you can build and this is how businessmen went around the policy by turning these flats into short-lets… today we have whole blocks being rented out on short-lets… just around the corner from here we have an apartment block that will have 110 apartments; 583 beds. Can you imagine?

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The state is obviously happy because it rakes in VAT [from short-lets], and from construction activity but there needs to be balance. You cannot be rubbing your hands in glee at the same time as shooting yourself in the foot because in the long-term we will end up a jungle… Policies need to change now and I’m not talking only about building policies but also policies adopted by the general administration. If we are not going to introduce on-the-spot fines, it is useless for ERA officials to come over and institute a case when the culprit is going to leave Malta the following day. The law as it stands today defends the wrongdoer…

So, enforcement needs to improve.

Increasing enforcement without changing the policy is useless; it becomes more expensive. We have to kill the spider and not simply remove the cobweb…

What policy changes are you proposing?

We need to know what the carrying capacity of the locality is. Can the infrastructure in this locality cope? Can the immensely poor accessibility to the locality cope? How many open spaces do we have? What sports facilities do we have? We have zero sports facilities… we have four very small gardens in this locality. Next to the council offices there is a private field, which I have been asking the government to expropriate for the past 12 years… to be turned into the locality’s main square with an underground regional art and culture centre. I’ve knocked on every door, even on the prime minister’s door… to no avail.

You seem frustrated by this situation.

I am angry; I could literally eat anybody who comes in front of me…

What needs to be done?

It has to start from the very top. Decisions need to be taken. When you get sick with a cold, the doctor administers a type of medicine but if the cold turns into a bronchitis, the medicine required is much stronger and from a GP you end up at the specialist. The more time passes, the stronger the medicine is required. We need direction from above. Do you realise that in Malta, we have to reach crisis point before they wake up? Look at what happened in construction; people had to die [for meaningful action to be taken]. The Building and Construction Authority started one way, hobbled along and after people died, today it looks as if it is functioning properly. Can you tell me of one regulatory institution that is equipped in a modern way, to tackle the multiple increases we are witnessing everywhere? We have overdevelopment, over tourism, overpopulation, over everything…

The issues you raise are linked to population and how it grew rapidly in a relatively short period. But, coming back to Swieqi, you still have common people who despite having grumbled about the problems, sold their house to developers when the chance came. You have ordinary people who have benefitted from this influx.

I agree with you 100% and I do not want to disrupt anybody’s chance. But we need to have a policy. If you eat too much, you may enjoy it for the moment but what will happen to you afterwards? If you drink too much, what will happen? If you go and race someone but are unwell, what will happen to you? There is always a limiting factor. The economy dictates this. This is why I need good policy makers…

What would the one policy change at planning level that you would like to see implemented?

I would like to see a carrying capacity study. Your car logbook tells you how many people can be in the car. You can take on more people if you want. But the capacity limit is there for comfort and security.

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There is always a carrying capacity limit; I am not insisting on this because the PN came out with it—this council unanimously approved such a study. I have asked for it from the authorities at least three times before and I did so because I genuinely want to know what this locality can cope with. I have a locality that is chock-a-block with no open spaces. There is no public land here [that can be utilised as open space]… we have a problem where to put the skips that we are mandated by law to have because there is no public land… over my dead body will I put them in the four gardens we have.