It's only poor management

The ongoing maintenance of Bay Square in Bugibba and the surrounding area, has never been taken in hand properly by St Paul's Bay council since it was completely refurbished a few years ago. In spite of being handed on a plate as a sparkling, newly redesigned tourist area, on which Lm3.5 million and a lot of effort had been spent, it seems the council has never been able to come to terms with its proper upkeep.

Inevitably, under their management, it has deteriorated to the disgraceful state it is in today, and it is high time someone took over who knows how to do the job properly. The council, which is now appealing (July 29) for public cooperation to keep the area clean, is at the same time leaning on all manner of excuses to hide its inefficiencies, which are all too evident, leaving the inevitable depressing result for all to see.

Your photograph of what might be mistaken for a disused fountain, is actually a picture of a gigantic ash tray and receptacle for beer cans and polystyrene fast food containers. I have never seen water in it since it was built. Although the design of the square allowed for flower beds surrounding the fountain, instead of the intended flowers and shrubs, we have coke cans and general trash and I cannot remember it looking any different. The council members would do well to visit some of the beautiful squares in Spain and Portugal, designed for peace and tranquillity and where gardeners can be seen working on them every day.

Instead of being an attractive feature, pleasant to look at, the square is a disgrace and those who are in charge of it should be ashamed to be associated with it. I live quite near the area and am disgusted every time I see it. It is a downright insult to the tourists and their families who come to stay in Bugibba. Elderly people sitting on the benches in the square have absolutely nothing of interest to look at. A few palm trees, maybe, but where are the Mediterranean flowers and shrubs to give colour and interest? Where is the colourful bougainvillea, oleander etc? And the water in the so-called fountain?

If it were not for the dozen or so restaurants leading off the square, who have made great efforts to make the area look more attractive by putting out coloured lights, tables and chairs, pretty tablecloths, shrubs and flowers, and regularly sweeping their frontages, the area would look totally devastated. They have succeeded in giving the area a much needed lift, where the council has failed. I am reminded of the extraordinary reasoning of a few years ago, whereby the police would not allow any of the restaurants to even put tables and chairs on the pavement.

Council secretary Hector Cassar seems to be proud of the fact that the area is washed three times a month. My grandparents used to have a bath once a week, but it probably wasn't enough. In Benidorm, Torremolinos and Fuengirola in Spain, all strong competitors for Malta's tourist trade (and all having their share of vandalism too), the promenades are washed during the night, every night. Likewise, the beaches are swept overnight and all domestic refuse is collected overnight. Early morning joggers out on the promenades in Benidorm never see a rubbish bag. These resorts are dependent on tourism and have an intense interest in providing what the tourists want to see and making sure that what they do not want to see is hidden out of sight.

Not only in Bugibba, but throughout Malta generally, whether on the coast or in the villages or towns, tourists and locals alike are subjected to the daily inconvenience of refuse vans holding up the traffic while they pick up domestic rubbish at all hours of the day, some of it smelling to high heaven in the sweltering heat. Apart from the simple fact that refuse collectors probably don't want to work at night, I have never been able to understand why domestic rubbish in Malta is not collected overnight, as in the more civilised tourist resorts and capital cities of other countries. In Malta, the attitude seems to be if the tourists don't like the way we do things, they can lump it and go elsewhere. Which they do, of course.

Instead of counting tourist arrivals coming into the airport, the government should conduct a survey of all those going out, asking whether they would come to Malta again and if not, why not, discounting those who come for the cheap beer and fags of course. Considering the very high proportion of all holidaymakers who come to Bugibba, I imagine the state of the area would figure high on the list and the state of the island generally wouldn't be far below it.

Thinking about tourist arrivals, when they come out of the terminal, they are greeted with such pleasant sights as an attractive working fountain, green lawns and flower beds, but when they get to Bay Square in Bugibba, they are confronted by utter desecration? Welcome to Malta indeed.

For first-timers it must be a cultural shock they won't be too happy to try again.

According to council secretary Hector Cassar, the council spends around Lm150,000 a year "in cleaning the place", which averages out at just over Lm400 a day. It would be interesting to see exactly how that money is spent. For all I know, it may not be enough to do the job properly, but on the other hand, it may be more than adequate if it is spent wisely. It doesn't matter how much money is available, if there is no proper maintenance plan in operation, the money is wasted. Bay Square has been subjected to a long, slow process of deterioration without any sign of a proper maintenance plan being followed, hence the poor state it is in today. Nothing to do with vandalism, just poor management.

Instead of whingeing about the effects of vandalism in the area and how much it costs to replace rubbish bins, Mr Cassar should be more positive. Vandalism is not unique to Malta, it is just that in Malta vandalism is taken too lightly and punishments amount to no more than a slap on the wrist. With the full cooperation of the police, the wardens and the council (and yes, the public too), together with more severe punishments meted out to those who get their kicks by damaging public property, vandalism could certainly be discouraged and possibly wiped out altogether.

With a comparatively modest sum of money, a free hand and maximum cooperation from all concerned (including the introduction of stiff on-the-spot fines for the mindless vandals), I could transform Bay Square into a place of beauty in quite a short time.