Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1031063
11 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 SEPTEMBER 2018 to clean the streets only, or to work behind garbage trucks? It was just dirt." MaltaToday interviewed a migrant business owner, Pollo Lucky. Lucky has been a business owner for the last five years, running a grocery shop and a bar in Marsa. Queried about the situation in Marsa, Lucky said that he has always experienced a wel- coming atmosphere from Mar- sa residents, expressing his dis- gust at other migrants for their lack of respect towards the community and the country. "If you live in a country you must respect the law and lifestyle i n it. I don't like the way some of the others act, it gives me and mi- grants with good intentions a bad name that we don't de- serve," he said. Over the past few weeks, PN leader Adrian Delia took cen- tre stage when he said that de- spite the government insisting that we are living in the best of times (l-aqwa zmien), we have migrants sleeping in cowsheds and in gardens. Despite the countless ac- counts and photos of mi- grants sleeping in public places around Marsa, the mayor in- sisted that the locality doesn't have a housing crisis. "No, we don't have a housing crisis. It is the responsibility of those sleeping in gardens and public spaces to stop doing so," Francis Debono said. Bugre laughed off this state- ment. "Prices are hiking, wages are very low and people are forced to live in crowded conditions due to not being able to af- ford rent. It is one of the big- gest problems that the migrant community is facing," he said. Bugre also claimed that a size- able portion of migrants are opting for a life in prison, with individuals opting for impris- onment rather than sleeping outside. "Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a bed are provided in prison. Some migrants are committing petty thefts just to get off the streets," he said. Debono said that migrants who sleep outside are unde- terred when they are told to move by police officials, as they tend to go around from one lo- cality to another until they find a spot where they aren't both- ered by anyone. The solution to the Marsa problem according to Debono has to begin with the clamping down on over-crowding in pri- vately owned apartments. The high density and lack of legal standards is an ever-growing problem in Marsa. Debono also said that change is not easily accepted, and add- ed that in a transitional period such as this, radical change is not easy to adapt to. "In a locality which has an el- derly population, different life- styles and cultures are not eas- ily accepted, but I believe that in due time with proper poli- cies and appropriate regulation the problem will get solved," Ahmed Bugre's solution lies in communities branching out to each other. "We need to have stakehold- ers reaching out to each other. The solution lies in proper planning," Bugre said. He insisted that a proper dia- logue must be ignited. "The local council together with community workers, the Maltese community and the migrant community, must come together for a holistic and long-term plan." Bugre insists that if both the migrant community and the local Marsa residents do not feel threatened by each other, this would result in more inte- gration. with no possible future In order for the community to solve the problem, it is vital to have everyone reaching out to each other Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a bed are provided in prison. Some migrants are committing petty thefts just to get off the streets Ahmed Bugre Foundation for Shelter and Support for Migrants