‘Government rushed through warden reform’ – Opposition whip

Opposition whip David Agius accused the government of rushing through a local enforcement reform "for the sake of looking busy".

“During yesterday’s parliamentary debate, I said that the government had done nothing to improve the warden system,” Agius said during the continuation of a debate to discuss amendments to the Local Councils Act. “The very next day, the government called a press conference simply to prove that it is doing something about it.”

Through the reform, a new government agency will be set up and led by retiring deputy police commissioner Ray Zammit, who in December was removed from the helm of the police corps following the shooting incident involving Paul Sheehan, the driver of former home affairs minister Manuel Mallia.

In its first phase, the agency will mainly focus on coordinating existing bodies and improving the synergy between all partners. In its second phase, before the end of 2015, the agency will become a regulatory authority. Last year, government launched a consultation process on the local enforcement reform, with the intent of creating a fairer and more transparent system.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said that the agency will consult with stakeholders for a reform in the “extremely complicated” system through which money from citation fines is shared.

However, Agius said that this announcement was so rushed that a legal notice for the new agency had not been published in the Government Gazette.

He criticised the government for choosing to hold local council elections every five years, rather than every five, pointing out that even US Presidents only hold their seats for four-year terms.

“If the government wants to save money, it must start its search by looking at who is unnecessarily earning a lot of public funds,” he said.

He accused the government of not providing all local councils with details on how to apply for funds to restore places of heritage, but parliamentary secretary Stefan Buontempo retorted that all local councils received a memo on how to apply for these funds and that the same memo was sent to Agius himself.

Agius also referred to a Transport Malta competition that was launched in August whereby local councils were told to develop a three-year sustainable mobility plan for their locality, the best plan of which would win the council €50,000.

“They still don’t know who the winner is,” Agius said.

Labour whip Godfrey Farrugia called for party club committees and MPs to stop interfering in local council elections, as this "denies candidates and counsellors from presenting a more human face".  

"While political parties have every right to participate in these elections, counsellors and mayors are first and foremost elected to represent the residents of their localities and not their parties," Farrugia said. “Every local council election campaign so far has always ended up a debate about national issues, and coinciding it with MEP elections will give it a new dimension."

Shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi argued that the government hadn’t even had the “decency” to consult with the Opposition before drafting this Bill.

“Under all PN governments, every amendment to the Local Council Act was passed with agreement between government and Opposition,” he said. “The minister responsible for local councils used to go out of his way to ensure understanding between the two sides.”

He dismissed Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s original argument that local council elections should be held every five years, arguing that Malta has one of the highest voter turn-outs in Europe and that local council elections cost €900,000, compared to the €4.2 million used to ‘bail out’ Café Premier’s owners.

“The public have now learnt that there is always a secret meaning behind the Prime Minister’s words.”

He also referred to the government’s recent capital projects fund for local council projects, in which local councils who did not qualify for the fund had a 10-day period in which they could appeal to an especially set-up appeals board.

“However, the local councils whose projects were chosen were awarded a commitment letter,” Azzopardi said. “The appeals board was clearly a smokescreen for incorrect practices, typical of Labour, a party based on spin and spam. If you remove marketing from the government, all you’re left with is a bag of hot air.”

Bonnici retorted that the appeals board are free to come to their own conclusions.