MEPA and the PARKS unit within the Resources Ministry have removed 75.5 tons of waste in a campaign aimed mainly at removing oil drums from fields and the countryside.

The exercise started early this year and has so far targeted 16 localities in Malta, with large quantities of oil drums being removed from the rural areas around Zurrieq, Safi, Mqabba, Qrendi and the industrial area of Tal-Handaq.

Oil drums, rusting white goods, pallets, furniture and other material were removed from 290 sites. In many cases, the owners of the fields assisted in the removal of the items, the ministry said.

“This illegal practice, which has been going on for decades, has to stop. Not only is it illegal to use these objects as boundary barricades but this practice is tarnishing the richness and natural beauty of our countryside,” a Mepa spokesman said. “Our traditional ‘hajt tas-sejjieh’ or rubble wall is an integral feature of our rural areas that need to be protected and preserved.”