Attard mayor takes a verbal punch at his Lija counterpart

What appeared to be a brief conflict between the Attard mayor and his counterpart in Lija had to be tackled by police, after Attard mayor Norbert Pace sent a harsh email in response to the case of former PL Attard councillor John Bonnici.

19 September 2010, 12:00am
by Martina Said

1 min read

It-Torca reports that the two mayors held different views on how the case of Bonnici should have been tackled. Bonnici, who was found guilty of damaging balustrades on the parvis of the Attard church, explained in court that he advised the mayor to remove the balustrades because they were obstructing the way for wheelchairs and prams to pass during the village feast concert.

Witnesses in court said that after failing to answer to his request, Bonnici grabbed the bull by the horns and did the job himself, reportedly causing damage to other balustrades. After being found guiltybuy a court, he resigned from the PL.

In an email sent by Norbert Pace on 10 September, strong language was used against Bonnici, saying he wanted to set an example for "so called people". The email was sent to the Prime Minister and a number of top officials. Upon reading the email, Lija mayor Ian Castaldi Paris reported Pace to the police.

“I received a call from the police of Birkirkara insinuating that I called Castaldi Paris at 11:46pm, when he didn’t even answer my calls or messages , and told me I’m harassing God the mayor Castaldi Paris himself (lil Alla s-sindku Castaldi)," Pace wrote in an email.

“It is unacceptable that a mayor interferes in such matters when the party is taking care of the situation in the best way possible,” Pace added in view of the Bonnici issue.

After causing a stir in the PN headquarters, Pace was advised to apologise. “I apologise for any inconvenience I may have caused,” Pace wrote in an email.