65 warnings on first day

The new plain clothes wardens made their presence felt yesterday - their first day of duty - by issuing over 65 warnings in connection with littering and illegal dumping.

A total of 24 "eco-wardens" started patrolling the islands yesterday.

The new dumping and littering regulations carry fines ranging from Lm25 to Lm50 for littering and Lm1,000 to Lm2,500 for dumping.

All wardens including the regular ones will be able to mete out these fines but the plain clothes wardens are detailed on special routes.

Until the end of the year, they will only serve warnings and the culprits will not be made to pay the fine associated with the infringement. However, anyone warned during this trial period and caught littering or dumping in the new year will be liable to pay the fines for both infringements.

The number of warnings issued yesterday exceeded the expectations of the companies which operate the warden services. The 65 tickets were issued during the day, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but some wardens were actually on duty until 2 a.m. this morning.

Some of the eco wardens are commissioned by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and others by the local councils - two for every regional committee which represent clusters of local councils. The money collected through the fines will be shared between local councils and Mepa with the rest going into an environment fund. This fund will finance small, environmentally oriented projects in the councils.

For the trial period, the scheme will be entirely financed by the government. The expense is expected to reach Lm150,000 and the money will eventually be recovered from the environment fund.