In a press conference, Charles Buhagiar, the Opposition spokesman for infrastructure, raised – or, rather, exhumed – the issue of rainwater cisterns (September 7). He suggested that the Government should enforce the law which stipulates that each house should have a well.

The ministry was not reported to have made any reaction to this. Why?

When last winter a reader of The Times complained about the overflowing sewers during a downpour, the Water Services Corporation was quick to explain that this was because there are many hundreds, if not thousands of buildings that have a stormwater system of their roofs and yards irregularly connected to the public sewer system instead of a rainwater cistern.

So, if the WSC replied to a complaint by a reader concerning this point, why did the ministry not reply to criticism from an Opposition spokesman about the same point?

What have the authorities been doing about this problem apart from discussing it or, more precisely, avoiding to discuss it?

To be more specific, how many houses previously without a rainwater cistern have installed one in the past few years? Indeed, how many houses were inspected to see if they had a cistern installed? What has been done to encourage, assist even, the owners of houses without a cistern to install one?

How many new builds, including apartment blocks, have been constructed in the past few years complete with the mandatory rainwater cistern?

How many of these did the planning authority and/or Water Services Corporation inspect to ensure that the cistern had been constructed before Mepa issued the requisite compliance certificate in order to enable the developer to apply for mains electricity supply?

If Enemalta’s provision of power supply to a new build is subject to compliance with all the onerous conditions of a building permit, why is the provision of water supply by the WSC not subject to compliance with one single and simple piece of legislation?

For a number of years now we have had schemes designed to entice people to use solar power and that is very commendable. Why do we not extend the idea to encompass the use of rainwater?

It is not too late to start.