We are at the height of August and the Maltese summer is at its best. For many, summer is a beautiful period, a time for relaxation and enjoyment. It is time for vacations, to be with family and partying. But this summer, unfortunately, will be remembered as a summer of suffering and inconvenience for many of us.

It was a hot summer with power cuts, but also one dominated with filth, neglect and carelessness in many localities; the result of several wrong decisions or lack of action by the Labour government.

Tourist locations such as Sliema and St Julian’s have more problems than quieter villages. The realities of such localities are not the same like small and tranquil villages, such as Għasri or Xgħajra.

The decision taken by the authorities earlier this year to centralise the collection of waste by the region instead of being managed by the local councils has created more problems in tourist locations.

The decision was implemented this year and shows, first of all, lack of trust in the local councils, and significantly, that the Labour ideology and mindset regarding local councils have remained unchanged. More than 25 years after the devolution of power, the Labour government does not believe in local councils, and prefers powers to be controlled centrally.

The biggest problem is that it makes absolutely no sense to use a ‘one-size-fits-all’ system. For instance, Sliema is already a very densely populated locality. As summer approaches, the popu­lation further explodes with tourists and day trippers. It is a shame that while we say we want to attract quality tourists, we are offering them a Third World environment, which many Sliema residents today refer to as a dump, as they reminisce the days when Sliema was an elegant town.

Residents deserve a clean, healthy environment, and the tourists who come to Malta expect much better.

Tourists visiting a country in the European Union do not expect to see the appalling state of a number of streets, littered with trash and engulfed in a general ambiance of dilapidation. The existing environment in various streets, the Sliema promenade and on the waterfront near the quay where the ferries berth have become squalid and unkempt areas totally unacceptable for residents and tourists.

In densely populated streets, the amount of trash littering the pavements has reached appalling levels.

This state of dirt, overflowing garbage bags and neglect has attracted unwelcome guests: mice and rats. We have all seen photos of rodents, of various sizes, feasting on garbage or scrambling from one filthy area to the other. Apart from the fact that many people find rodents repulsive, they can be carriers of many diseases.

These conspicuously unhygienic conditions are detrimental to the health of residents.

The Labour government does not believe in local councils, and prefers powers to be controlled centrally

Unfortunately, we have a situation where garbage bags are left outside due to a number of selfish individuals. This is the result of a lack of enforcement. The lack of consideration for laws and for common decency seem to have the blessing of the authorities.

To make matters worse, we now have a new reality – the Beverage Container Refund Scheme. This has brought with it a long list of problems. There are areas where people scavenge empty plastic bottles and cans from garbage bags. The torn bags are left open with the putrefying waste exposed and spilling out – an attraction for cockroaches, mice, rats, and a very sore sight for our eyes.

The fact there are people constrained to search inside garbage bags highlights another ugly reality in our country. When we are supposed to be in the best of times, in our country we have people living in extreme poverty. We have reached such a pitiful situation that people are forced to open garbage bags to collect a few cents.

One of the BCRS machines in Sliema.

Even at the Strand, close to Gżira, I saw with my own eyes a man overturning a skip (there are a number of them there) to look for bottles and cans to exchange at the BCRS. The situation at the moment is shameful, very ugly, and yet the government remains silent.

Regarding the BCRS, it seems he government has not yet realised that next to these machines there is nearly always a volume of garbage. For instance, the area around the BCRS machine at Qui-si-Sana is filthy. The ground is black and sticky because of the liquids that are emptied from bottles before or after being thrown into the BCRS machine.

The unwashed floor, and the number of bags with bottles that were not accepted by the machine, in addition to the intense heat, create a concoction of disgusting smells and grime. To add insult to injury, these BCRS machines are often out-of-order, so the level of inconvenience to the public just increases.

Residents are desperate in the situation they find themselves in. I would like to propose some suggestions to address the state of affairs.

Localities like Sliema, Gżira and St Julian’s, and any other tourist localities, in summer and if necessary throughout the year, must have a tailor-made system for more effective garbage collection, to suit the needs of the locality, that must be agreed upon and operated with the local councils. This should include the possibility og giving more power to these localities to increase waste collection during busier months, as well as the power to employ green officials or guards to increase enforcement in the locality.

One should also considered arrangements so that garbage from tourists in Airbnb accommodation is collected by special contractors, the same way it is done with commercial waste.

An agreement can also be reached with various food and/or entertainment establishments, as well as lidos and harbour cruise operators so that systematically (such as on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) they themselves clean the public areas surrounding their commercial activity. This would be a good example of corporate social responsibility.

On top of the unsanitary conditions found in Sliema and other popular tourist areas, there is also the problem of e-scooters. Despite the legal amendments passed recently, enforcement is very weak or non-existent. I would like to suggest that the app used to access e-scooters should provide more information about the rules governing their use.

The filth and neglect on our streets might be a reflection of the internal workings within the present state of the Labour government. But we residents deserve better and our tourists deserve better too; it is high time for the Labour government to wake up and smell the coffee – and do something about it!

Graziella Attard Previ

Graziella Attard Previ is PN spokesperson on equality and children’s rights and a former Sliema mayor.