A St Paul’s Bay family living on Triq l-Iskuna had to grapple with a rat infestation as a colony of rodents nested in an old mattress left on the family’s doorstep for over two years.

“After several reports, they finally removed it,” a member of the family said.

The family is among several St Paul’s Bay residents facing a worsening sanitary situation as the authorities grapple to manage garbage collection, bulk refuse and littering in the most populous town in Malta. 

The problem has persisted despite the fact that, since the beginning of this year, employees from the Cleansing and Maintenance Division have been deployed every afternoon, collecting an average of 15 tons of waste material daily from Monday to Sunday.

Several residents have aired their concerns with Times of Malta. Alexandra Tutulan, a resident, said garbage is sometimes left to ferment for two or three days in the heat.

“We are hit by a very bad smell of rotting garbage whenever we leave our building,” she said.

Garbage is a serious problem in Triq l-Iskuna, according to a resident who also complained about the rat infestation.

“People keep dumping stuff everywhere,” she said.

Greta Staknienė said many areas are littered with empty water bottles, cans and plastic bags.  

We are hit by a very bad smell of rotting garbage whenever we leave our building

St Paul’s Bay deputy mayor Carlos Zarb said the locality’s large population means that garbage issues are proportionally bigger than in other places.

A preliminary report of the 2021 national census showed that the population at St Paul’s Bay almost doubled over 10 years, reaching 32,000 in 2021. Much of that growth is attributed to immigration.

Garbage bags sometimes sit on street corners for days. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Two residents blamed the problem on a number of foreigners who are not accustomed to the garbage collecting system timetables.

Recyclable, biodegradable and mixed waste are meant to be placed in different coloured bags and taken out on specific days.

A fine is meant to be levied on anyone who does not follow the schedule, however, enforcement is lacking, the deputy mayor said. He said a better garbage collecting system needs to be implemented, including the introduction of underground bins, he said. 

Questions were sent to the Local Enforcement System Agency, the entity responsible, but no reply was received by the time of writing.

A St Paul’s Bay resident working at a hotel in the area said: “I sometimes cannot understand why tourists come here. As soon as I open my front door, I see garbage bags.”

Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association president Tony Zahra said the problem of cleanliness has been prevalent for many years with some improvements noticed for a short period of time before it “goes back to where it started”.

“This is one of our prime tourist destinations and we need to keep the area clean all of the time,” he said.

Panels of wood and a broken fan, lying on a St Paul's Bay curb. Photo: Jonathan Borg

The Cleansing and Maintenance Division invested in a refuse collection vehicle, a high-pressure street washer and two crew cab tipper vans dedicated only to St Paul’s Bay, according to director general Ramon Deguara.

“Unfortunately, in this locality, waste collection services need to occur more frequently as the demand is very high. Illegal waste deposited on pavements is uncontrollable,” Deguara said.

“The items dumped range from monitors to furniture, to white goods, to mattresses,” he added.