Police called to intervene during Zabbar local council meeting

Tension and tempers run high between mayor, executive secretary and councillors.

25 August 2013, 12:00am
by James J. Piscopo

1 min read

Zabbar mayor Quinton Scerri.

Police were called to intervene during the last meeting of the Zabbar local council, after weeks of tension between the Mayor, his councillors and the council's executive secretary.

The police were called by the executive secretary Duncan Busuttil, after according to him "the residents present at the meeting were continuously insulting the councillors." This was denied by Mayor Quinton Scerri, saying it was Busuttil who provoked the residents at least five times.

Despite obtaining almost 5,000 first count votes last March, the Mayor is finding difficulty in receiving support even from other Labour councillors. In fact, a motion presented by the mayor was defeated after not obtaining the majority.

"Duncan Busuttil recently declared that he would not be ready to cooperate with me should I get elected Mayor, and he has been trying to undermine me with someone else for the past weeks," Quinton Scerri said. Busuttil categorically denied this claim.

Scerri also said he's not satisfied by Busuttil's performance since "decisions are taking too long to be implemented, and he's not accessible. With such an executive secretary the council cannot function well."

In comments given to 'Illum', Busuttil said this was just the mayor's opinion and that previous mayors and councillors can vouch for his loyalty and service.

Quinton Scerri also confirmed he had several meetings with Labour's deputy leader Toni Abela on this issue.

Read more in today's issue of 'Illum'.

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If you'll manage to find Mr. Busutill at work or available I'll give you thousands. I've been calling the local council for 2 consecutive weeks to ask for his assistance in order to help my mother who lives in Zabbar. It was thanks to Mayor Scerri whom I emailed and acted within just 2 days, else I would have wasted more hours calling and calling. Scrap the old pants and let the young ones move forward towards the best

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pmurray the council secretary is NOT CHOSEN by the electorate.

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Local councils in principle are good but in practise they are waste of funds. At least 50% of the funds have to go on salaries and office rent or purchase.

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Politics Maltese style? I think people are starting to get fed up with politics and politicians. People are tired of the bickering between the political parties in general, and the politicians themselves do not make it any easier. We have enough problems with the illegal immigrants, so why don't we concentrate on that problem first. United we stand,divided we fall. Think about that line carefully and let us not show our dirty laundry to outsiders.

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I have always considered the local councils as waste of public funds. The earlier they will be scrapped the better for our country. I ask Dr T. Abela and the rest. X'qed jiehu l-PL mill-Kunsilli inkluz dawk b'maggoranza laburista? Absolutely nothing, except problems.

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Is it true that the Secretary's office is much bigger and comfortable than the Mayor's? Is it true that to go to the Secretary's office one has to pass through the Mayor's office and not the other way round? Is it true that some old nails have rusted and need to be removed to increase efficiency and efficacy in the local council? Is it true that the MAyor is finding so many obstacles because he is energetic as has already been proved and the more he successes that he manages to achieve the more the previous Mayors and counselors will be shown to have done nothing compared to him? Was there someone who instigated the allegation about the €100 contribution for the longest table record and which was later denied in a declaration by many shop owners? Can we know how much has the commissioning of broadcasting equipment to supposedly broadcast the council meetings cost the previous council, whether it is operational and whether a tender was issued? There are a lot more questions being asked which need to be answered.

Joseph MELI •

It is not for a Mayor (Scerri) to undermine the electorates chosen local council's(democractically-elected)executive secretary by him unilaterally determining and establishing that "he is not satisfied by Busutttil's performance"-as how long has he been a council member?.Who on earth does this Scerri guy think he is as he is behaving like an autocrat and tryant and are the local people "satisfied" with his performance?Such an in-house squabbling power-struggle is unbecoming,unprofessional and solves nothing-get your acts together !