Methodology · Transparency

Data Sources & Methodology

Name: Malta Public Services Directory — ImaginaMalta
Creator: ImaginaMalta
License: https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/

How ImaginaMalta collects and presents public services data for Malta and Gozo — sources, quality gates, limitations and what we do not publish.

Primary source: OpenStreetMap

Public services data on this site is derived from OpenStreetMap (OSM) — a free, open geographic database maintained by a global community of volunteers. OSM data is licensed under the Open Database Licence (ODbL 1.0).

OSM data reflects what contributors have mapped at a point in time. It is not a verified official directory. Individual records may be outdated, incomplete or incorrectly tagged. We show OSM data as-is with appropriate caveats.

Attribution: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0) · Last data snapshot: 2026-06-20

Datasets

Post offices48 total · 29 named · 37 mapped

Source: OpenStreetMap (amenity=post_office)

Opening hours and services not verified. No MaltaPost official source integration.

Police stations60 total · 41 named · 38 mapped

Source: OpenStreetMap (amenity=police)

Official police source blocked from host. Data is OSM-only, not verified. For emergencies, contact 112.

Local councils33 total · 32 named · 24 mapped

Source: OpenStreetMap (office=government)

INCOMPLETE: 33 found out of 68 expected. Do not treat as complete or official.

Parcel lockers7 total · 7 named · 5 mapped

Source: OpenStreetMap (amenity=parcel_locker)

Locker availability and access rules must be verified with the operator.

Letterboxes250 total · 0 named · 166 mapped

Source: OpenStreetMap (amenity=post_box)

Many unnamed records. Collection times not verified. Aggregated by locality only.

Locality assignment

Each OSM record is assigned to one of the 68 canonical Malta/Gozo locality slugs used across ImaginaMalta. Assignment uses a deterministic mapping table covering Maltese article forms (Il-, Is-, Ir- prefixes), uppercase variants, Maltese-language names, and known sub-locality mappings. Records that cannot be reliably assigned are excluded from locality pages.

38 localities with any data34 localities published (quality gate)

Indexation policy

Locality public services pages are only published where there is meaningful coverage. The gate requires either ≥2 service categories, or ≥5 total records. Unmapped or unknown locality records are never published.

What we do not publish

Live opening hours or guaranteed service availability
Official completeness or government directory claim
Police district or regional council data (empty datasets)
Emergency numbers or emergency advice
Legal advice regarding any public service
Ratings, reviews or user-generated content
Collection times or delivery guarantees for postal services
Real-time status for parcel lockers or services
Data scraped from Google Maps or proprietary sources

Critical limitations

Local councils are incomplete: 33 found vs 68 expected (44 missing).
Police official source blocked: Data is OSM-only, not verified with Malta Police Force.
No police districts or regional councils: These datasets are empty and not published.
Verify before relying: For critical services (emergencies, official matters), always verify directly with the authority.

Corrections & updates

If you spot an error, the best fix is to update the original OpenStreetMap record — corrections there will flow through to all OSM-derived directories including this one. Last data snapshot: 2026-06-20.