Opposition wants greater police presence in Gozo

Gozo requires a greater police presence, the Opposition said, especially in multicultural localities like Marsalforn and Xlendi, and new entertainment hubs like Mġarr.

Nationalist Party spokespersons for Gozo and home affairs respectively, Alex Borg and Joe Giglio, called for better security to deal with changing demographic and cultural trends.

“Lack of security in Gozo is a serious matter every day… the lack of police officers in Gozo has long been felt,” they said.

The spokespersons partly blamed the lack of security on the growing multicultural population, especially in seaside localities like Marsaslforn and Xlendi.

“The lack of security in Gozo is also coming from the fact the Gozo’s population has changed but the way we look at security has not, or is changing very slowly,” they said.

The reference to multiculturalism as a security issue comes a couple of weeks after two rival groups of Syrian nationals came to blows in Marsalforn, leading to the murder of one of the men. A co-national has been charged in court.

However, the PN MPs expected the situation to get worse in summer when Gozo’s population more than doubles.

They also called for police presence in the port of Mġarr where the number of entertainment establishments had increased over the past few years, attracting many people to the area, especially during weekends.

Borg and Giglio disagreed with what they said are new arrangements to keep the Comino police station open only between 9am and 8:30pm.