The unbearable nightmare of living in Paceville

The police will be strengthening their presence in Paceville by deploying 22 officers to the streets of the entertainment Mecca in the coming weeks.

This follows the latest trouble this week, in which revellers caused damage to the property of Paceville residents and two youths were arrested and arraigned in court.

On Thursday, a family which has been residing in Paceville for over 40 years went through yet another ordeal. It started at 4.30am with loud noises outside their house.

Awakened by a loud thumping sound, the 63-year-old mother got out of bed to find the cause of the noise. Peering down from her balcony, she saw her worst fears confirmed: two young men jumping on her daughter's car, which was parked beneath the balcony.

Being the fourth time in as many years that her daughter's car had been damaged by revellers, the pensioner ran out into the street and chased the two youths.

The woman caught up with the two young men at the nearby aparthotel where they were living, while her daughter called the St Julian's police station and informed the officers about the disturbance.

Upon arriving at the aparthotel, the police arrested the young men, a Mexican and a Chilean, who were in a drunken state after spending the night in Paceville.

The two were later arraigned in court and ordered to pay damages to the daughter which amounted to €750. The two are in Malta as students of English and will be leaving the country in September.

Speaking to MaltaToday, the daughter said, "Obviously I am happy that at least the damages have been paid, but the hell we went through was unbelievable. Woken up at 4.30am, chasing after these kids like crazy people in our nightwear, together with one of our neighbours. Then going to the police station to file a report at 5am... by 8am I was running around trying to resolve the problem through the insurance company or by getting a quote by a panel beater. Moreover, we then had to rush to court in the hope that these students had sufficient funds to pay up. This whole story exhausted my parents, who had been awake from 4.30am; and we did not return home from Valletta until around 2pm."

The two students apologised for denting the car's roof and paid the full €750 on the same day.

While affirming that the police officers had been very helpful, the 37-year-old car owner felt that the police presence on the streets was not strong enough.

"At 4am all the bars close up and a large number of drunken people flock to the streets and end up roaming around the residential areas to get back to their vehicles or to their hotel rooms. Then you'll find the odd idiot who finds it amusing to damage a car or to have a wee on someone's doorstep or throw up just a couple of doors away. It really is horrible," she said.

She added that the police officers at the St Julian's police station had admitted that the situation faced by residents in St Julian's, Swieqi and Pembroke needed to be addressed urgently. However the officers explained that on a "good day" there are only eight officers on duty, making it impossible to patrol the streets properly.

Two of these officers are stationed at embassies, two inspectors are stationed at the station and four officers patrol the vast area including St Julian's, Swieqi and Pembroke.

This was the fourth time in recent years that the woman's car had been damaged. Once, brawling revellers shattered her car's windscreen, and another time unknown persons damaged her car's roof and bonnet.

The woman said that as a consequence of all the incidents she had suffered, which ran into thousands of euros in damages, she risked losing the no-claims bonus on her car insurance and explained that insurance companies are increasingly wary of insuring the vehicles of Paceville residents.

The woman's mother told MaltaToday that the authorities needed to take serious action to address a situation which is getting out of hand.

"I even attended the public meeting the Home Affairs Minister, Manuel Mallia, held a few weeks ago and brought the issue up. Although the authorities listened to our protests, we are still waiting for something to be done," the woman said.

She explained that Paceville residents have to live with these disturbances all year long, with the situation worsening in the summer months.

She also complained of the litter revellers leave behind, including empty alcohol bottles and broken glass, and complained that some partygoers go to the extreme of urinating on cars and doorsteps.

Furthermore, the woman complained of the unbearable noise from the nearby establishments, including a karaoke bar, and the taxis and minivans stationed in her street.

"We suffer sleepless nights all summer long and during weekends all year round. Our roads are packed with minivans and other vehicles, which take up our parking spaces, block the road and, to make matters worse, honk their horns in the middle of the night. All this while drunk people wait for the vans and taxis in the streets, making more noise and blocking passageways."

The woman and her family have no intention of leaving the area that has been home for four decades. They will not be driven out by the disturbances that the authorities can prevent.

"I have been here for 40 years. If I had moved to Paceville recently, I would be the first to admit that I should have known better. However I was here before Paceville became what it is and I am not at fault."

Commissioner pledges deployment of 22 police officers

Speaking to MaltaToday, Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit explained that the force was in the process of deploying between 14 and 22 police officers to the streets of Paceville, especially during the night and early morning hours.

"We will not only protect residents, but shop owners and revellers will also benefit from the increased presence of police officers in the streets of Paceville," Zammit said, adding that the plans to increase the police presence should come to fruition in the next two weeks.

The St Julian's police station serves over 20,000 residents, in addition to the thousands of tourists who reside in Paceville, Swieqi, Pembroke and Ibrag.

For years, residents and the business community in Paceville, Swieqi and nearby areas have called on the authorities to open a police station in the heart of Paceville and in Swieqi.

However, while acknowledging the importance of having additional police stations in these localities, which he described as "points of reference", Zammit stressed that the solution lies in having police officers on the beat.

"Police stations are a dead point. However, the solution is prevention, which can only be provided by having officers on the beat," Zammit said.

In previous years, the police force claimed that it was difficult to deploy more officers in St Julian's, given the overabundance of outdoor activities held throughout Malta, especially during the summer months, which require the presence of police officers.

But Zammit, who was installed at the helm of the police force three months ago, said that between 14 and 22 officers should be deployed to the streets of Paceville by next week, as the parish feast season was drawing to a close.

He added that the number could increase if necessary and that a number of officers were currently undergoing specialised training before being deployed.

Discussions over the remuneration for these officers were underway, since they would be required to work challenging late-night hours.

Zammit said that the officers would not be part of a specialised unit, since this would have a detrimental effect on the police stations, but would be redeployed to Paceville during specific hours.