Watch: Mosta Mayor Expresses Frustration At Public Criticism, Admits He ‘Shouldn’t Have Written Certain Comments’
Mosta Mayor Chris Grech has opened up on the frustrations arising from seemingly never-ending public criticism of the various projects currently ongoing in Mosta.
Speaking with Lovin Malta in a sit-down interview within the Mosta Local Council, while appealing for residents to be more patient, Grech admitted that he wished he didn’t write certain comments on social media.
“I admit that maybe in certain instances I answered out of frustration and not how a mayor should answer, I admit it, but it’s easy for the public to go commenting anonymously online without trying to understand what the council is going through to make this project happen,” Grech said.
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This comes after the mayor was called out by a number of residents for replying to comments in a way that “is not appropriate for a mayor to reply” – with many sharing screenshots, including members of his own council, condemning the approach.
"Ask them yourself 'vojt kollok'" which essentially implies it was a pointless question
Lovin Malta sat down with Grech earlier this afternoon, with more soon to come from the exclusive interview, to hear about the challenges of being the mayor of one of the largest towns in all of Malta.
After going into great detail on the number of projects that the council has undertaken, such as the upgrading of the arterial road network and the storm catchment systems around Mosta, while stressing how difficult such projects are to undertake, Grech delved into the challenges arising from social media.
“Social media has taken over, as soon as we see a one-way road or a double-yellow line, we go online to write about it, attacking the mayor,” he said.
Addressing the recent controversy, he questioned whether it’s all done to hinder progress in the locality.
“Unless the intention is to hinder the progress or create frustration for a political agenda.”
“Nowadays we also have the Local Council page, and there are also groups managed by residents, such as Mosta Residents, which has 12,000 members, managed by one administrator.”
“There have been some complaints about hateful comments not being removed in time, but a group of that level, has to be well-managed,” he stressed.
He also added that he was recently made an admin of a Facebook group for Mosta residents, called Residenti Mostin, saying he’s not opposed to new groups.
At another point, Grech said that as a mayor, he could have very easily not undertaken any major projects, and instead focused on day-to-day work.
“We could have just cleaned the locality, take the complaints, organise events for the elderly, and I’ll stop there, and wouldn’t have all these problems and criticism,” he said.
“Because when you work on these big projects, you will also be criticised, especially such massive projects currently happening in Mosta.”
“But during my term as a mayor, we have started a lot of work in the last year, and will continue to do so in the next year, because I want to be a Mayor that leaves a legacy,” he said. “It’s no use just being a mayor that just does the day-to-day.”
He continued to stress that the projects the council is currently undertaking will not just get well done, but will also get a lot of critique.
“I appeal to the residents of Mosta, that while we will try to do the work with the least possible inconvenience, for it to happen, you need to be patient.”
“If the residents really want this work to be completed, then they need to be a bit patient,” he said.
Stay tuned for more to come from Lovin Malta’s interview with the Mayor of Mosta.
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