St Paul's Bay to clamp down on waste disposal abuse

@A.Gauci Cunningham: Yes, it will add beauty to an already beautiful country and the good thing is that Malta and Gozo are so small that they are manageable and we can very easy keep them spotless if we, the citizens, the government and the local councils put an effort.

It's truly sad that we still haven't achieved a high level of cleanliness but if we make a bit of noise about it, we'd hope that everyone will contribute to the cleanliness of our country which will be good for us and also good to attract the admiration of the tourists.

Whenever we go somewhere and take some food with us, we always carry extra plastic bags in the trunk to dump left overs or garbage and put in bins or if these are not available, we bring them home for the next day garbage collection. It's not a hard job to do and if everyone does it we can make a huge change.

ap Grech-----------I wholeheartedly agree................what a beautiful country we would be if we were litter free............bring it on apgrech

I think the most dirty street in Bugibba has to be Upper Conversion street.
The street is constantly filthy with rubbish, pavements mostly taken over by unofficial cement
ramps for garages, constant car washing taking place leaving puddles everywhere etc, etc.

Council please note of this.

A message to all. We should organize a blog in which every citizen from all over Malta and Gozo would point out dirty spots in their respective towns or villages.

We can give our own notice to the councillors to clear the messes and if they don't we'll publish them on a blog here on times. We'd give them till the end of August to clean up our towns and villages, if not, they'll hear from us.

Shall we do it? If yes, I can send a letter to Times and ask the Editor to publish it on Sept 1 and we can post our complaints if the councils don't take action before then.

Those who agree, please raise your hands!!!!

Punish them, and also punish the the local council of St Pauls Bay for their gross negligence for not emptying the rubbish bins over the weekend. The overflowing rubbish bins that you see on Saturday afternoon, stay that way until Monday morning.

Ok so the St.Paul's Local Council finally woke up to the reality that this locality, whose population increases threefold in the Summer months, has reached a littering problem of chronic proportions.......it is disgraceful and disgusting that every morning my 10 minute walk is "ruined" by the huge amount of litter left everywhere in the streets, Triq Il-Gifen is a disgrace and the place where trees are planted in pioneer RD. are always full of bottles and rubbish.....the garden in Mons Alfredo Mifsud square has a fountain which is dry and filthy....whats the use of a fountain?? To serve as a monument of shame and apathy?? Triq Il-Knisja (opp HSBC) is another disgrace potholes, potholes and triq Ir-Ramel next to two main 3 star Hotels (karanne, san Pawl and ex-STA Marija) don't even have a bleedin proper pavement. The tax-xama project took patheticly long and the "playing field' next to the school is pitiful......................true we have a new mayor and she's been very understanding..........and this decision sounds really good but dont expect brownie points until we've seen tangible results!!!!!!!!!! by the way i'm not an armchair critic, I'm a proud resident of Bugibba whos very ashamed of the dirt around me!!!

@ Peter Abela: You sound like you're one of the councillors in St Paul's Bay. How come you guys don't see the garbage around your town? If I were the mayor or councillor of a village, I would drive around and check for myself to see what needs to be done.

Don't get nasty with Albert Fenech, he is right and you are wrong. It's the council's duty to supervise their area and it's our duty, as citizens, to complain and show your inefficiency.

I bet you have seen the garbage before maltastar.com posted a photo of it on its e-newspaper. But you did NOTHING. Do your job or get out of your posts.

Oh give us a break Peter Abela..so now its the citizens' lack of responsability's fault is it? For your information I reported the state of shame in our street to all the authorities including the Health Department, Mepa, OPM, MTA etc The Council is elected to stand and be counted. Citizens are so frustrated with this situation that they either have to live with it or leave the area. Other towns and villages boast with their cleanliness and state of environment but St. Paul's Bay has had to succumb its beauty to the lack of action of those in charge.

Hmm, money making scam or a genuine desire to clean up the locality's image and book inconsiderate people . . . ? Time will tell . . . perhaps the Local Councils responsible for Sliema, St. Julians and even Valletta should follow suit!! The inconsiderateness of some people (not only owners of entertainment venues) is disgusting!

I cannot but first reply to Mr Albert Fenech who seems to enjoy the back seat and let the world go round. Had Mr Fenech been more alert then he would have done his civil duty and report any wrongdoing in his area. Seemingly so well informed maybe Mr Fenech can walk round to the council and foward a few names and addresses. Waking up to such responsabitlities would have been the greatest of assets, both for his neighbourhood and the comminity. be assured that you will be met with open arms and in the strictest of confidence. So Mr attard stop hiding behind the pen and paer and accept tthe invitaion. Wake up to the citizens responsabity.

Rest assured that the council wakes up up to his responsabitlities, but enforcement is always the last drastic resort. But the responsable and law abiding citizen must be protected.

Further more one must also bring to the attention of the irresponsable animal owners, tenants that are HANGING THEIR WASHING IN PUBLIC ,apart from degrading the area its illegal and the law will be enforced,

AS Mr M Scicluna's words, "'WE LOVE ST PAUL'S BAY LET'S KEEP IT TIDY FOR US AND ALL'.

Maybe finally the council is trying to help improve the locality's image, or maybe to make money after all. Some two/ three yearrs ago I called them about a broken beach ladder and their very helpful positive reply was that it was not their responsibilty and they could do nothing about. A request was also made for assistance in providing garbage bins on the beach next to Qawra Palace Hotel service entrance. Thanks to them now it's full of bins (joke!!!!) Seems now the council realised it can make money from their lack of action as well

My elderly parents live in St. Paul's Street, St. Paul's Bay... further down from Veccja restaurant. From Monday to Saturday garbage collection is between 7:00 - 7:30 a.m...... quite early. On Sunday, garbage collectors come round between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. at the LATEST ..... This is FAR TOO EARLY for refuse collection on a Sunday !!
It is in everybody's interest to keep SPB clean and attractive; more realistic garbage collection times would help.

St Paul's Bay council unfortunately acts too late! It should also take much more care of litter bins and skips. Is close monitoring being carried out?

About time too! Just hope this is not just a flash in the pan and that strict enforcement is undertaken. It is disgusting the sheer volume of waste piled along the Bugibba promenade mostly by commercial establishments who ironically rely on tourists and locals for their custom! I dare say a few security cameras would work wonders and anyway, should be regular practice where crowds congregate.
As for St George's street, it's in a disgraceful state, especially the lower part. The water pipes are always bursting and the asphalt has subsided and been forced aside so much in several places that a car wouldn't get past it. Luckily its to the side where vehicles manage to park.
@ E DeMarco - It may not be the filthiest, but it sure comes second!
Mayor , please wake up the LC, its been dormant for far too long. It's action and cleanliness that people desire, not just organised subsidised trips for the elderly.

While on their mission, could the wardens also please bring to book all the dog owners who have made Triq il-Qroll a habitual latrine for their cherished pets?

It also appears acceptable for local businesses to populate all available parking spaces in the same street with hire-cars on display, and to wash their vehicles allowing water to continually drain into the street. A word of instruction would not go amiss.

The situation for St. Paul's Bay residence is a disgrace. I've been reporting to the local council regarding rubbish left outside by business for months on end. I think that the enviorment in our area is one of the worst in Malta - pedestrians risk injuries everytime they try to walk on a pavement, let alone the pot-holed streets. I was hoping with the change of mayor things will change but nothing has changed during these 5 months.

My wife and I have been reporting skips full of rubbish left by a hotel in our street to the local council for more than two years now to no avail. Its a real shame. We and other residents in our street have babies and kids and sometimes we 're afraid of taking them out given the fear of mosquito bites, rats and foul smell! We're fed up of this situation and are doing our best to leave the area!

At long last this has been a long battle since the conseption of the Local Councils and yet the two long reigning Mayors never tried to do anything about it. I hope that what the new Mayoress is implemneting takes full action and sort this out once and for all. In the area were I live the rubbish is also left out by foreign residents so they should also feel the crunch and learn to keep our Village clean. 'WE LOVE ST PAUL'S BAY LET'S KEEP IT TIDY FOR US AND ALL'

It is about time that they take action. In the street I live in, the council put the sign up and the people laugh about it.The rubbish is regularly taken out and left on the street after collection, day by day. It is a feast for all the rats and cockroach who run around every night. They are happy about this, but they are the only ones.

Prosit to St. Paul's Bay Council for enforcing the legislation. It's time the "litter bugs" feel where it hurts (their pockets) of course.

St.Paul's Bay new council should visit St. George's Street, by far the filthiest street in S.P.B. Rubbish is taken out at illegal hours, even on Sundays when there is no refuse collection,so plainclothes officials should visit the street from 9.00pm onwards if they expect some results. A word of caution to officials who might attempt to come & have a look. Tread carefully as the pavements are all unevenly paved & broken. I suggest you adopt the humble position & always walk with your heads bowed, looking directly at the ground to avoid serious limb injuries. Opting for walking the "crater" filled streets will give you the once-in-a-lifetime experience (although simulated) of walking on the lunar surface! Enjoy it while it lasts, though I sincerely believe it will still be there in the forthcoming years! Also, I cannot understand why there is no Sunday refuse collection, at least in Bugibba's promenade. On-the-spot fines would also help immensely but the council doesn't adopt them, lest it frightens off particular Maltese & tourists alike! Finally, since I am a Summer Resident, I can never vote in SPB local council elections so I have no illusions about the NON-result/s my comments will bring.....

Why is it that we have an industry which is the major contributor to our pockets and it takes us half of THE most important economical part of the year to finally do something to clean up the area in which our customers visit - I really do not know whether to be happy or just shrug my shoulders to our Mayors decision!!!

@J Farrugia: Maltastar brought out the garbage issue and that is the St Paul's local council is taking action. Maltastar even published photos showing piles of garbage so the fault still lies with the Local Council/

Well done local council!

The Rabat (malta) local council should do the same. I wonder what tourists think when they see rubbish piled up in corners.

About time something was done about this mess.

Additionally, where room exists, skips for domestic rubbish would be an asset for those that are unable to place their rubbish in the road at the correct times due to work or other commitments. Commercial outlets should have their own skips/means of disposing of their rubbish and not burden the domestic system, especially the skips supplied for domestic rubbish.

Has the St Paul's Bay Council woken up at last? Our area must rank as amongst the filthiest in Malta and Gozo, further exacerbated in Summer by the unwelcome intrusion of so-called "summer residents" who dump on us for a few weeks and act as if they own the place. Generally it is these that cause most of the dirt, full knowing that in a few weeks they will disappear again. From your item it would seem that commercial waste is a problem so why castigate individual homes when rubbish collection is NEVER at a set time.

In passing, the playground in Triq it-Turisti is filthy and much of the equipment in a state of disrepair. This should be fenced and closed at night because it is being used as a public latrine and all kinds of odd individuals doss down there - and we know what that means! It's become a habit too for people to create their own "parking space" by putting a "no parking" bucket of concrete in front of their house. Wardens are totally useless except to clap on parking tickets, but NEVER, NEVER in the main road so as not to upset the business commune!

and then Maltastar has the cheek of putting the blame on the local council. Fine them Mr Maayor,. that's the spirit. Punish them where it hurts most, their pockets.