Beach cleaners swept a whopping 100,120 kilograms of rubbish, ranging from plastic cups and toys to food and cigarette butts, off 22 beaches in Gozo and Comino over four weeks in June.

This is the equivalent weight of nearly seven truckloads of bricks.

A spokesperson for the Gozo Ministry said such a mammoth collection is not a rare occurrence in summer, and the authorities predict similar amounts of rubbish will be collected over the coming couple of months.

The rubbish varies from plastic cups, plates and cutlery to plastic beach toys, cigarette butts, beer and soft drink cans, discarded food and other waste.

"Some beaches require cleaning just once daily by a few beach cleaners but others, especially the ones on Comino, require more manpower and more than one shift of daily cleaning"

There are 112 full-time beach cleaners deployed in Gozo and Comino – 47 are employed with the public sector and the other 65 with contractors. They are responsible for cleaning two beaches in Ħondoq, two in Dwejra, two in Mġarr, two in Xatt l-Aħmar and another two in Xlendi, five beaches in Marsalforn, Mġarr ix-Xini, Daħlet Qorrot, San Blas and Ramla l-Ħamra, and three beaches on Comino.

Some beaches require cleaning just once daily by a few beach cleaners but others, especially the ones on Comino, require more manpower and more than one shift of daily cleaning.

Moviment Graffitti has been vociferous about the unbridled commercial activity on Comino that is causing rubbish to be discarded all along the protected Natura 2000 island.

When the activist group descended on Comino last month to remove deckchairs and umbrellas in protest against the operators’ business practices, it also demanded urgent action on the ‘huge’ food kiosks that sell food and pineapples filled with alcohol. These are later left scattered along the pathways, only to attract rats and make an eyesore out of the island.

When the activists visited Comino last week to monitor progress and enforcement, they observed a significant amount of rubbish lining the rugged passageways of the island.