Valletta should not be another Paceville – Christian Micallef

Parliament will tomorrow debate a motion to revoke two legal notices that extend the time window within which bars and other commercial establishments may play street music from 11pm to 1am in a number of major streets in Valletta. 

These two legal notices were published by stealth by the government in early June, with no prior notice and without any form of consultation with the residents and other key stakeholders or their representatives within the local council or district MPs.

This decision was so well hidden that it only came to the fore when a resident living in one of the targeted streets filed a complaint with the Valletta police station due to the excessive music being played in his street well after 11pm.

The police officer on duty referred the resident to the new legal notices and the rest is history.

The prime minister’s political direction appears to be to transform Valletta into another Paceville at all costs, completely ignoring the totally different character and specific realities and needs of our capital city.

And, so, over the past month, residents in Valletta have faced the ongoing discomfort of music blaring outside their homes till the very early hours of...