The article entitled: “Birkirkara Council accused of exorbitant deficit” appearing on your newspaper dated 31 August 2008, warrants some explanations and clarifications. The letter sent to our Council by the Department of Local Councils is a regular procedure in terms of the law, when a particular Local Council is temporarily below the financial surplus benchmark of 10%.
Unfortunately, the current deficit situation faced by the Birkirkara Local Council has stemmed from the excessive delays in payments by the various Government Departments and Authorities. Besides that, the ever-increasing expenditure incurred to meet the residents’ demands is not mutually corresponding to the increases in the annual financial allocation which on average, never increased (if not decreased) over these last five years. On the other hand, these last three years the Council is honoured to have embarked on a series of infrastructural projects were almost indispensable as they have now solved flooding problems for residents especially during stormy weathers for which Birkirkara is well renowned. During the past three years, the Council invested nearly €900,000 in infrastructural projects where certain areas and open spaces were literally transformed from piles of rubbish to beautiful gardens, most of them with leisure facilities. One must also remind that the Council invested heavily in a Child Day Care Centre was complemented with a major refurbishment of the beautiful Stazzjon Gardens, a place which is considered as a national heritage in view of its relation with the nostalgic old railway operating in the Maltese Islands in the first half of the 20th century. It should be assured to the public that both Polidano Bros Limited and Attard Bros Limited were assigned the works concerned following an adjudication of a public tender with the unanimous approval of the Council.
The Council deems unfair the fact that it was criticised on a position of financial deficit when the same Council is accountable to the public for all its actions as the projects themselves witness. As stated earlier, the Council still has to receive the approximate amount of €340,000 either in cash or in kind from various Government Departments or related Authorities but it is unfortunate to say that the payment delay process is reaching its unwanted limit. Furthermore, the Council is owed the sum of €130,500 in planning contributions by a particular private entity but which are kept in abeyance in view of the excessive delay by the authorities concerned to issue the necessary permits. In another instance, the Council has adjudicated a tender in favour of a catering operator to increase the level of activity a the Stazzjon Gardens but due to bureaucratic reasons, the necessary permits are still on hold and once again, the Council is losing out on fresh sources of income. Albeit the difficulties mentioned above, the Council is putting all its efforts and resources to reduce the deficit as quickly as possible to be back in lien with the requirements of the law. It is with pride to state that the current members of the Birkirkara Local Councils along with those who served before, have always placed the interests of the residents in the forefront and will continue to do so in the years to come.
Michael Fenech Adami
Mayor
Birkirkara Local Council
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