Nightly trail of disgust

I am a 24-year-old Maltese who enjoys the company of foreigners and continuously promotes his country as a must-see location overseas. However, I must express my utter disgust and concern about the present condition of St George's Bay and its adjacent road in Paceville after 10 p.m.

The stench, while walking along the pavement from one side of the beach to the other, is unbearable. The asphalt covering the road shines with urine. Some metres across the road from the lovely scene of our respectful guests releasing their toxic liquids on the parked cars (or, if lucky enough, at the wall separating the street from a hotel) one finds the beach in which our government invested precious money just some years ago.

Once the sun set, this beach is clearly not serving the purpose for which it was set up. Large crowds of English language students take over the beach and turn it into an alcoholic park. Needless to say, the glass, plastic and canned drink containers do not end up in bins but on the sand, street, pavement and even the sea. The first thing I ask myself when faced with such a scene is: Where is the police?

But this question is quickly answered upon seeing three "security" men in white shirts. Hence, there is no need for policemen at the beach because there are security guards, right? I walk up to one of them and ask for a reason why the students are allowed to cause such havoc. He helplessly answers that all he can do is talk to them and tell them that it's illegal to do so. During our conversation a police car comes down the road and continues on its way along the streets of Paceville as if everything were fine.

Further proof regarding the authorities' knowledge of this sad situation is the fact that two mobile toilets are parked along the beach. Fair enough, these are being used by some civilised individuals queuing and waiting for their turn.

As time passes by and the night grows older, the crowds keep growing and the students end up drinking in the street.

Yes in the street, the same street where a warning sign was installed last year stating that the consumption of beverages in glass containers outdoors, the consumption of alcohol in the streets and the carrying of alcohol in the streets other than in sealed, unopened containers are prohibited by law. I guess the English language students are still in their early course days as they do not seem to understand what the sign says. But we cannot blame them. Most of the students are not notified of their ill-behaviour and naturally keep doing so, day after day, until they leave our island and share their anarchical experiences with their fellow countrymen. To add to this chaos, some bright students drinking in the middle of the road seem to be reluctant to let cars pass by. Naturally, this makes drivers nervous and they end up speeding away dangerously at the first opportunity.

Readers should know that Spanish students coming to Malta on a language trip do so under the form of a grant, which falls under the programme instituted by the Zapatero government to realise a promise the Spanish Prime Minister had made to students in his run to be re-elected. Such grants are quite considerable and provided in the form of a refund after a student presents a certificate upon returning from Malta as proof of attendance at the English language course. This scheme has reaped a lot of cash to our language schools and the latter hope it will endure for a number of years. Although we need to protect this cash inflow, this should not be done at the cost of our island's vital reputation, which is clearly suffering a blow every time innocent people experience the scenes described above.

It is 4 a.m. and the students are getting tired. They walk up to their residences leaving behind a trail of litter. In a short while, the poor cleaners will be trying to digest their early breakfast while attempting to clean the beach.

For how long will this continue? Why do locals and other innocent tourists have to endure such disgust every time they happen to be passing along this public place? This beach leads to a number of five-star hotels and it is inevitable for the value-adding tourist to endure this eyesore to arrive at his lodging. Why does the beach have to be cleaned every morning when these students should not be drinking there in the first place? Why is this being allowed? Everybody should be equal before the law. What a shame!