I refer to the public consultation launched by the government on waste collection in Valletta, specifically on the proposed new collection times.

Two collection times are being proposed: between midnight and 3am and from 3pm to 5pm.

With all due respect, the proposed collection times do not cater for the needs of those who live in Valletta and assume that people either sleep very late at night or else do not have a full-time job and are able to spend most of their afternoons at home waiting for waste collection.

The midnight to 3am proposal must be some sort of bad joke. Certainly, it does not factor in the elderly. Are people expected to remain awake at night purposely to take their garbage outdoors for collection? And what about those who work? Most people need to sleep ‘early’ to attend to work, school and other mundane commitments.

The other proposed time – between 3pm and 5pm – is almost just as bad. This proposal fails to consider those households whose members either work or have other commitments and who return home late in the day.

A revised timescale to factor this consideration would be much more sensible and certainly convenient. I suggest that alternative collection times should be considered with, say, twice or thrice a week at 6.30am and another two days later in the afternoon/early evening, say at 6pm. I trust that better sense and more consideration for those who live in Valletta will prevail.