Rubbish in the sea and in the streets

Pieta Creek i March

One can wonder why a country like Malta, depending totally on its tourists, does not care more for the impression it gives its visitors.

Pieta Creek in February

The creeks, for instance, in S:t Julians, Sliema, Msida and Pieta are very often full of floating rubbish that could be taken out of the water easily; the rubbish gathers very often in the end of the creek and could be taken out of the water with landing nets. When going with Captain Morgan’s underwater safari you can see where the garbage ends up, something I several times have heard tourists complain about.

Pieta Creek in February

The system for collecting garbage, put out on the pavements, about every other day is very old fashioned and unhygienic. Very often people seem not to be aware of when to put out garbage in accordance with the timetable every household has received from the government; that is why one often can see plastic bags full of garbage standing on the pavement for almost 24 hours. There are high fines if you put out garbage on unauthorized time, but I have never heard of anybody that has been forced to pay such fines. Very few countries in EU have a system like this. The normal way to handle garbage is to use closed bins. Surprisingly, I have never seen rats eating from the garbage.

It seems like people think it is ok to throw papers, plastic bottles and a lot of leftover from quick lunches and many more things everywhere. Sometimes people even hide them under the few bushes although there are trash cans almost everywhere. The government has done what it can do to stop this but it is up to all of us to ensure we get cleaner streets, because, as it is now, it is disgusting.