Most residents of Balzan are very familiar with the lonely figure of a vagrant roaming the streets throughout the day, stopping to beg for some bread from the local bakery, an orange or a banana from Diego the vegetable seller, a coke from the local greengrocer or some coffee from one of the local band clubs. At times you can even see him scavenging for food in the rubbish bins.
Come night-time he spreads out some pieces of cardboard in a cul-de-sac near the old people’s home and sleeps on the road until about seven o’clock in the morning. When he wakes up to continue his walks, begging for food along the way.
This vagrant is a foreign national and apparently a Muslim, because at times you can see him kneeling facing Mecca indulging in his daily prayers. Also from what I hear, he persistently refuses to take shelter at the Good Shepherd Convent run by the Sisters of Charity at Balzan.
Can the authorities pick this poor fellow off our streets and oblige him to live in a decent place? As far as I know it’s illegal to sleep in the street and I am under the impression that such practices died out some 50 years ago. It would also put residents’ minds at rest and help restore the image of this once-quaint little village.
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