Anthropologist warns of Paceville’s ‘long-standing neglect’

The state’s long-standing neglect of Paceville is starting to show, anthropologist Elise Billiard said.

“Every participant in my field work in Paceville revealed one thing above all,” Billiard told MaltaToday after participating in a seminar on the future of Malta’s primary nightlife hub. “Every participant in Paceville, from resident to club owner and from language school directors to bottle shop owners, agreed that Paceville needed to be better – that the state of the streets was abysmal and that the long-standing neglect was starting to show.”

Billiard suggests that “nothing happened” as a result of this because instead of implementing long-standing change, the government focused on superficial ‘fixes’: “basically re-paving two streets, and making the only public garden a private one”.

“In my opinion this is useless, even counter productive,” Billiard said. “You would only need to listen to Paceville both by day and night to understand what really needs to be done. It doesn’t even have to be all that much: a couple of – nicely designed! – public toilets, cheaper parking fees, and the re-opening of streets and passages that have recently been closed off, would be a good start.”

Read the full feature story in today’s edition of MaltaToday