Swieqi gears up for neighbourhood watch

Broken street signs, scratched cars, uncontrolled litter, vomit on people’s doorsteps… not the best of starts to the day. But Swieqi’s deputy mayor Justin Fenech says this is a daily reality for his town’s residents.

They live next door to Malta’s nightlife hub, and every year this growing town – once an attractive property buy for middle-class families – suffers extreme discomfort and disturbances from revellers to Paceville and young tourists housed here.

“Swieqi is affected primarily by Paceville – meaning that disturbances occur throughout the year and mainly due to our proximity to Malta’s main entertainment hub,” Fenech explains, who says unruly behaviour is not limited to a particular time or group of people.

“The influx of foreign students during the summer is the proverbial cherry on the cake – our population increases dramatically and therefore disturbances become more common and more acute.”

Fenech says Swieqi has been affected this summer just like every other summer before, although there have been summers that were worse. “Disturbances range from shouting and singing in the streets to more obscene actions. Residents are being affected week-in week-out, and the effects are also psychological… Imagine not being able to relax in your ‘home sweet home’,” he says, stressing the exasperation many residents feel.

In the past cars have been vandalised, with altercations being reported at various times of the night.

But residents have not been idle in the face of the belligerent behaviour on their streets. “They have installed CCTV cameras around the location, something the local council is officially working on,” Fenech says.

“Unfortunately there have been a number of calls for vigilantism and also a number of xenophobic and racist comments. These attitudes do not help in any way,” he says, adding that the issue should be dealt with jointly, as a united locality.

Fenech recalls that a number of disgruntled residents sent letters to the authorities, including the Prime Minister himself, even staging a peaceful protest to show their unity against this issue of concern.

“I believe the government and the authorities have completely ignored the protest march held by residents, as well as the letters,” he says.

“Unfortunately it is difficult for certain politicians to fathom the stress that some residents pass through on a daily basis because they lack the personal experience.”

But the council has been ‘reinvigorated’ on the matter, Fenech says, saying that security and public order remains its number one priority. “Seeing residents stand up to be counted on the matter gives the council the cutting edge to push for reforms and initiatives needed to solve this problem in the short to medium term.”

Swieqi’s council now plans a working group for residents, to shape the council’s strategy on security and public order. In the offing is more CCTV, a neighbourhood watch system, and demands for more police officers on the beat,

Swieqi actually got a 24-hour service police station in April 2014 in response to the high levels of nuisance and yobbish behaviour, but the constant complaints lodged by residents have rendered effectiveness somewhat questionable. Statistics forwarded to MaltaToday by the police show that incidents of reported crime in the Swieqi area in 2014 stood at 269, including 104 reported theft cases and 94 reported cases of damage to others or their property.

Fenech says the police station has made the locality safer, but that a number of improvements are needed. “More police patrols are needed since police presence needs to be felt in order to discourage bad behaviour.”

But he does note an improvement in the situation, despite the increase in student influx. “Of course this is not good enough and further work remains to be done to decrease the level of disturbances, criminality and havoc.”