I am in complete agreement with Saviour Attard’s observations regarding negligence towards our environment (Road Construction Waste In Xlendi Valley, December 10).

I have lived on Gozo for only three months, yet in this short time I have seen an island spoiled by discarded rubbish. It is everywhere, around the Victoria bus terminus area, in fields, along roadsides and at tourist sites such as Dwejra and Xlendi.

All this is seen by tourists as they travel about and must give a bad impression of Gozo. People very often keep their house fronts immaculate but ignore rubbish close to where they live. Much of this ends up being spread around the countryside or gets washed into the sea via the wadis. In these three months I have collected over 40 sacks of waste just in my own locality, mostly from the seashore.

Gozo is a beautiful island but is spoilt by this endless tide of rubbish thrown from cars or dumped from some building sites. Sadly, this is also a worldwide problem but if it cannot be dealt with on a small island such as this what hope is there?

We have anti-litter laws but these are a waste of time if not strictly enforced. What is needed are strong environment protection laws and authorities given the ability to enforce them strongly, or doesn’t anybody care about their surroundings?