Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/349229
12 JUDGING by recent news reports of violence and crime in Swieqi, I wasn't sure whether I'd need a Hum- vee and bottle-proof jacket to drive into the heart of that residential enclave in search of its mayor, Noel Muscat, for this interview. As it happens, personal body- armour proved unnecessary. At around 4pm the place is practically deserted… so much so that I even managed to find a parking place within half a mile of Muscat's office (a virtual impossibility, had our ap- pointment been after 8pm). But a Humvee might have helped negotiate the otherwise quasi-lunar surface of many of its severely dilapi- dated roads. Driving into Swieqi off the Regional Road, it is difficult not to be struck by a peculiar paradox. This is one of Malta's fastest grow- ing towns, and has arguably attracted a more affluent population than al- most anywhere else. This much alone accounts for part of the area's recent spike in burglary and theft. Yet the state of the roads compares with the worst Malta has to offer. And as any resident will tell you, the traffic infra- structure in general leaves much to be desired, too. Access to the area is limited to two, maybe three roads… one of which (under the tunnel from St George's Bay) is conspicuously more used than the others. All lead into nar- row streets, and these – owing to overpopulation and proximity to Paceville – tend to get severely con- gested most evenings of the week. To add to the sense of claustrophobia, the neighbourhood is almost choked with development, and the impres- sion you get driving through is that there is not a single public open space of any kind, anywhere. These are the sort of issues you'd associate with depressed areas and social dumpsites… not with one of Malta's most sought-after residential addresses. For all this, Swieqi has been in the news over other, more pressing con- cerns. Opening the first Swieqi po- lice station this week, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia confirmed that the town's criminality rate is twice the national average, while the incidence of burglaries in residences is five times higher. The main crimes were theft from cars, homes and (to a much lesser extent) shops, as well as damage to private property. "The problems begin after mid- night and go until roughly 5am," Noel Muscat tells me in the offices of Noel Muscat & Co accountancy firm. Muscat is known outside Swie- qi circles largely as a radio presenter on 101 and a candidate for the PN at the last general elections. Those involved in the sports sector may also remember him from his career in competitive football with Melita FC, St Patricks Zabbar and Athleta Pembroke. For the past two years, however, he has found himself devoting more of his time to addressing the so-called "neighbourhood problem". And as he takes pains to point out, it is a far more complex problem than random acts of delinquency or crime might suggest. "Newspapers and the media tend to talk about Swieqi, Sliema and St Julian's as if they were one and the same place. But the reality is very dif- ferent. Sliema has a commercial cen- tre. St Julian's has an entertainment district. Swieqi, however, is almost exclusively residential. There are no entertainment venues of any kind, and hardly any shops…" All the same, Swieqi is exposed to the 'other side' of Paceville. Not only is it viewed as an extended parking zone for the thousands who descend on Paceville on weekends and throughout the summer; but a large concentration of rental prop- erties and residences for tourists also means that the place is simply invaded each year by fun-seeking teenagers on holiday… with results that occasionally get reported in the media. One recent example involved a street of parked cars vandalised in the same way: broken side mirrors and key-scratches along one flank. Last April there was a spate of incidents in which cars had all tyres slashed. In a scene reminiscent of the Wild West, one resident reportedly offered a re- ward of 500 euros to whoever could apprehend the culprits. Muscat explains that the bulk of the complaints he receives as mayor concern noise and vandalism. "Van- dalism ranges from people walking on cars – which is terrible, you know – to the slashing of tyres, breaking of mirrors… to people doing all sorts of things, all sorts of acts, in the proper- ty of other people… you get reports of everything: condoms deposited into the letterbox…" Pre-empting my question that… Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 JULY 2014 Swieqi: in search PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD