'Tremendous' response to oil drums removal campaign

Almost 600 unsightly oil drums and a score of discarded "white goods", such as refrigerators, have been removed from the countryside since the resources ministry embarked on the project at the end of June.

Ministry spokesman Joe Zahra said 133 had been removed from Zebbug, 187 from Siggiewi and 251 from Zabbar, all at the request of the land owners or tenants.

"There has been a tremendous response from the public who are calling regularly asking for our assistance. Once we receive a call, the drums are removed from the rubble walls and, when possible, emptied of the heavy stones used to weigh them down.

"They are then all moved to the edge of the field and collected the following week by one of our trucks, as many of them require a crane to be lifted."

The service was provided between July 1 and 14 free of charge and will continue between July 29 and August 14 but once the pending requests have been dealt with, the ministry intends to enforce the law, which bans their use, and the service will no longer be free.

"A notice is being issued to all offenders advising them that they have to remove the drums within six weeks, in accordance with legal notice 160/97.

"Once this time is up, we intend to clamp down on offenders and they will have to pay for the cost of removing them," Mr Zahra warned.

Anyone wishing to avail themselves of the service should call the parks and landscape conservation section from Mondays to Fridays, between 8 a.m. and noon, on tel. 2299 7733.