[VIDEO] Swieqi to have its own police station within weeks

A police station is to be opened and become fully functional in Swieqi by the end of this month, MaltaToday is informed.

A spokesperson for the Home Affairs Ministry has confirmed the news and said that only a few things remained pending prior to the station’s opening, mainly related to the installation of IT infrastructure.

The Swieqi local council and residents of nearby Ibraġ and Madliena have been calling for the set up of a permanent police station and regular patrols for months, after residents had to put up with a series of vandalism attacks.

The most recent act of vandalism occurred last weekend, when residents woke up to find their car tyres slashed. CCTV footage uploaded on Youtube by a resident shows a hooded man walking slowly on the pavement before he stops, acts like he’s going to collect something from the ground and slashes a tyre with a sharp object. He repeats the same act for the second tyre of the same vehicle and is seen walking away calmly, before looking around to ensure that his act went unnoticed.

In a similar incident last year, around thirty cars were vandalised in the space of two days after they were sprayed with black paint. The cars were all parked in the streets closest to the Paceville area.

MaltaToday is informed the police station will be located in the new civic centre of the locality, which was inaugurated days before the last general election by former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

Asked about the opening hours and how many officers are expected to run the station, the spokesperson said the operational structure is still being defined at the moment. 

At present, Swieqi is the responsibility of the St Julian’s police station. Apart from having its resources strained by Malta’s clubbing hub Paceville, the same station also has to cater for the surrounding areas of Pembroke and Ibraġ as well.

Swieqi residents become more restless towards the summer season, as the locality hosts substantial numbers of foreign students who reside there.

Two months ago, residents launched an online petition to raise awareness about the need for a stronger police presence, gathering more than 600 signatures in the process.