Practically every day one sees letters in The Times and other newspapers regarding rubbish and/or rubbish collection.

I think it is high time that we change our system of collecting rubbish. Malta must be unique in Europe with this system. At least I have never seen garbage bags outside apartments or houses in the streets of other European countries.

In Malta, most of the time, rubbish is collected at noon or later and more often than not you find families where both husband and wife work, with the result that rubbish is taken outside at around 7.30 a.m. and left there up to the time that rubbish is collected, usually around noon. But during this time our streets look very dirty, to say nothing of the stench that sometimes comes out of these rubbish bags. There are areas where there is no rubbish collection (parts of St Julians) but residents have skips where they can throw their rubbish and their streets look much cleaner than those with garbage bags outside doors, especially outside blocks with about 10 apartments.

I know that people dislike change, but if we want our country to look cleaner (and currently it looks filthy) we have to do something to do away with the present system of rubbish collection.

Furthermore, the government has to come out with a strong education campaign so that people start using skips instead. Residents who leave their rubbish outside their doors should be heavily penalised, but the councils then have to do their part by ensuring that skips are not left to become so full that one cannot place one's rubbish in them. If need be skips should be emptied twice or more times a day.