Minister sounds warning to local councils: ‘stop spending beyond your means’

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici delivered a stark warning to local councils and regions against accumulating unsustainable debt.

“Local councils are independent and autonomous and this brings with it responsibility and accountability. These principles are not limited to decision-taking but should also be about money management,” he said.

Bonnici encouraged local councils to be creative and tap into EU funds or enter into public-private partnerships in order to boost their projects.

The government has been trying to control debts accumulated by local councils which had amounted to €22 million. The minister said it was unacceptable for local councils and regions to allow debt to spike, ignoring the fact that it also reflected on national debt.

Bonnici was speaking in parliament, after PN MP Robert Cutajar asked the minister whether the government would be taking any steps against the previous Labour council at St Paul’s Bay. It has been reported that debt accumulated by the St. Paul’s Bay local council had shot up by €274,000 in the first four months of this year.

“While the council’s debt at the end of 2014 stood at €150,000, the PL local council spent so much throughout the local election campaign that its debt shot up to €425,000 by the end of April,” PN mayor Graziella Galea revealed.

Without specifying whether any action would be taken, the minister pointed out that there were legal provisions to ensure that councils and regions operate within budget.

The law allows a minister to intervene if a local council is not functioning as it is supposed to or that it operates with unsustainable debt. Bonnici explained that a direct ministerial action as prescribed by the law occurred once when former minister Austin Gatt took action against the Bormla local council.

“It wasn’t a happy experience for both sides … and I warn that it may not be the last time it happens. Irrespective of the political majority, councils can’t operate beyond their means,” Bonnici said.