Let common sense prevail

The dumping of mattresses, unwanted appliances, and rotten carcasses on our roadsides and valleys (what's left of them) should now, thanks to the introduction of fines and green wardens to enforce them, become a thing of the past.

Who doesn't recall the shock and horror expressed by most of us when the government introduced local wardens to monitor our driving and parking habits? Local wardens were never popular and never will be; however there is no doubt that their presence on our roads has installed in us drivers a better sense of discipline, even if their presence is still badly needed.

This month saw the introduction of new littering and dumping fines which are being enforced by green wardens. The need for such regulations has long been felt, but it took one no-nonsense Environment Minister, George Pullicino, who finally got down to penalise those who insist on being irresponsible.

The fines handed out are hefty, as they should be, ranging from Lm25 to Lm2,500, and the green wardens are already making their presence felt, and how! A newspaper reported that a woman was handed a fine by a green warden who caught her in the most gruesome act of feeding sparrows with tiny pieces of bread! Earlier on, this newspaper reported that during the "warning periods", therefore last year, when regulations were not yet in force, another women was warned by a green warden that washing her pavement with soap will next time round land her a fine of no less than Lm1,000.

Everyday I hear of people who get punished for washing their cars outside their house just because they add a drop of soap to their buckets in order to get rid of the ever-present fine dust on our cars. This ridiculous situation of people being fined for cleaning and washing should stop once and for all! Well it's true that using soap to wash your pavement is pretty dangerous, but dishing out a Lm1,000 fine is totally out of proportion and speaks volumes about the lack of common sense that some over-enthusiastic green wardens seem to possess.

I'm sure the aim of the government when introducing these new regulations was to educate people, making them more aware of their surroundings, and punish those who persist. Those who dump unwanted appliances and rotten carcasses should most definitely not be treated with kid's gloves; green wardens would do well to come down hard on them.

However, let reasonableness, a sense of proportion and common sense prevail. We seem to go to excess in everything we do. I'm sure this was not the government's aim, but it seems to be the aim of some over-zealous green wardens. Unfortunately.