After Paceville Brawl, Mayor Urges Abela To Meet St Julian’s Community And Not Ignore Residents’ Concerns
Shocking footage of yet another brawl in Paceville caught the attention of the nation. But St Julian’s Mayor Albert Buttigieg has called on the Prime Minister to meet with the community and stop treating serious safety concerns to both residents and tourists as an unimportant issue.
“As much as Prime Minister Robert Abela rightly met with the communities of Marsa and Ħamrun. Now, he needs to meet with us as well. We have a lot of stories to tell that don’t make it into the media like vandalism, theft and public disturbance,” Buttigieg said.
“St Julian’s is one of the main places tourists visit. It’s not just the safety of residents that’s on the line, those visiting our country also need to be protected.”
“We are just like everyone else and it’s unacceptable that we are treated differently as if our safety and protection doesn’t matter.”
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In the video, which was taken along Paceville’s busiest street, police are nowhere to be seen.
Buttigieg has been calling for increased police presence in Paceville for a while and has insisted that a special unit is needed between 2am and 5am to help maintain some order when intoxicated revellers reach fever pitch.
“People piss on doorsteps, damage cars and property, fight and sometimes even rip open garbage bags (incorrectly) left out the night before,” he said.
“We have the laws. Now, we need enforcement. Unfortunately, it makes me question whether nothing is being done so as to please the fat cats in the area.”
A meeting was held with the Police Commissioner soon after a similar incident a few weeks back. However, it appears that not much has changed since then, with the police on the defence over criticism regarding their work in Paceville.
Scenes of violence have been emerging across all of Malta and while Abela has met with some communities, it appears that some may be more important than others for reasons only known to the Prime Minister.
What should authorities do to improve enforcement in Paceville?
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