Labour MP Chris Cardona has presented a petition to parliament signed by 32 of his Birkirkara constituents against a Caritas home for former drug addicts who have completed their rehabilitation programme and are homeless.
The Caritas home will host up to ten former addicts who lack a home and a family to support them.
But residents are claiming that as a result of the shelter, “drug pushers will flock to this area like bees on honey” and that “no matter what security measures will be taken” their children will be “negatively exposed to drugs”.
The 32 signatories hailing from 15 different families are calling on the authorities to stop “this madness”. While the residents contend that “ex drug addicts have a right to start over a new life” they do not want this to happen at the expense of their children “which have a right to a drug-free environment.”
Contacted by MaltaToday, Labour MP Chris Cardona said he supports the setting up of homes for the rehabilitation of drug addicts but insists that residents should be consulted before such initiatives are taken and should “not faced with an imposition”.
“The issue could have been managed better if the residents’ concerns were also addressed beforehand,” Cardona said.
Cardona claims the residents are mostly preoccupied that former drug addicts could relapse and thus attract pushers to the area.
But he also cites more mundane concerns expressed by the residents who fear a rise of insurance premiums and a devaluation of their properties.
When contacted Caritas refused to comment on the petition.
MaltaToday is informed that although the new home is already hosting its first residents, the police have not received a single report or complaint from residents. Caritas runs two other residential homes and has not received a single compliant from neighbours.
This is the second time that a Labour MP is objecting to a social project aimed at the integration of socially emarginated people. Chris Agius had previously objected to a proposed home for former prison inmates from Bormla in their own hometown.

jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt