[WATCH] Summer after summer, Swieqi residents fear the worst

Some 9,000 Swieqi residents believe that a police station in the heart of the town would be the solution to the area's nightmare scenario during the summer months.

Swieqi, Tal-Ibragg and Pembroke are the three closest localities to Paceville - the core of Malta's nightlife and the source of many residents' headaches. Residents have started to dread the summer months.

Year round, Swieqi residents have to put up with waking in the morning and finding their plants overturned, waste from garbage bags strewn all over the local roads, urine on their walls or doors and their cars having been reversed into.

The situation is worse during the summer months, when noise during the night - shouting and screaming - generally intensifies and when the streets end up strewn with broken glass.

Add language students to the mix - with many embracing the opportunity to go wild while they're on 'foreign soil' - and the situation worsens, as their parties go on even until the early hours and while they stagger back home.

The fact that many live on their own and without supervision does little to help.

With St Julian's, Paceville and Swieqi all served by the single police station in St Julian's, which also serves Pembroke and Tal-Ibragg, officers are indeed at their limits.

Although a number of police officers are stationed at Paceville, their job is to concentrate on what happens along the streets adjacent to the clubs.

As one resident told MaltaToday, police officers on the beat should increase, but the core priority should be setting up a fixed police office at the heart of Swieqi.

"Although it's early days yet, we have already noticed a difference with police on foot patrol. But then again, after certain hours, the noise starts again when they return from Paceville and their party is carried onto the streets," resident Raymond Vassallo said.

Vassallo, who lives on Triq il-Keffa, describes the current situation as "under control," but fears the worst during the peak season.

His description of a typical summer evening, especially as the weekend approaches, is of young people smoking and drinking outside, with some also falling asleep on the front porches of private residences.

"I've been living in this area for 25 years and I've seen it degenerate. Today our house costs nothing because of this situation. It is even impossible to stay up late and watch TV because of the noise, which is unbearable," Vassallo said.

Public order has been a problem for Swieqi for a number of years now. In 2011, former Swieqi councillor for Alternattiva Demokratika Arnold Cassola called for a police station that would stay open on a 24-hour basis and which would cater to the needs of over 10,000 residents living in Swieqi, Ibrag, St Andrew's and the Madliena area. He also said police had to carry out regular patrols.

And in fact, such a police station could become a reality, as the Swieqi local council is set to meet with the police for the second time in two weeks to discuss a site.

Deputy mayor Justin Fenech said the key issues the residents keep raising are the increase of officers on the beat and the police station.

"But when it comes to officers, the time is also crucial. Staying until 1 am or 2 am will not solve anything," he said, adding that talks were ongoing with the police to see how to maximise the use of officers.

Fenech also said that no opposition existed to the opening of a police station, adding that even former Police Commissioner John Rizzo had supported the idea.

"What we need now is the will and the urgency to do it. It's time to make it happen and have it up and running as soon as possible," he said.

Meanwhile, the local council is also looking into how to find funds for the purchase and installation of 300 cameras - an idea originally tabled by the police a year ago.

According to Fenech, the police told the council they would be seeking to apply for funds and install cameras over Swieqi, Pembroke and Tal-Ibragg. The council, however, heard nothing on the subject after that.

"We have since decided to take the matter in our hands, making it our responsibility to set up CCTV systems," he added.

But a vibrant nightlife culture is not the only problem: other residents also complain of the lack of traffic warden presence in the area, where double parking and ignored traffic signs are the order of the day...or night.