PN demands government explain Birkirkara police station

The Nationalist Party issued a statement on Friday calling on the government to explain what will happen to Birkirkara Police Station, after reports emerged that the building currently housing the station is to be converted into tourism accommodation – a move that would leave Birkirkara without a police presence. Birkirkara Police Station is classified by the Malta Police Force as a District Police Station and serves as the main base for the Ninth Police District.

That district covers Birkirkara, Attard, Naxxar, Balzan, Lija, Iklin and Għargħur – a combined population of more than 70,000 residents. Birkirkara alone accounts for approximately 30,000 of those people. The Malta Police Force's official website lists only Birkirkara as the District Police Station for the Ninth District, with Naxxar as the only other station in the district.

The PN demanded the government state whether it has identified a concrete alternative site for the Birkirkara District Police Station and if so, where it is and when it will become operational. The statement was signed by Conrad Borg Manche, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Security. "We cannot keep demanding more from the Police while the Government fails even to plan where a District Police Station serving more than 70,000 people is to operate from," Borg Manche said.

He added that public safety "is not measured by what appears on Facebook or Instagram" but by the presence of officers on the street, accessible stations and adequate resources. The PN statement comes against a broader backdrop of reduced police infrastructure across Malta. In January 2025, it was reported that at least 26 Maltese localities did not have an operational police station of their own, including Msida, Mellieħa, Swieqi and Żebbuġ.

Msida Police Station was reported to have been closed since October 2023. The Malta Police Force website page covering Msida, Gżira and Ta' Xbiex does not list a station in Msida; instead, it lists Sliema District Police Station and Gżira Police Station as serving that area. No government response or comment from the Police Force was included alongside the PN statement.

The specific reports underpinning the claim that the Birkirkara station building will be converted into tourism accommodation have not been officially confirmed.