The Birkirkara council is investigating a plain-clothed warden who fined a Paola man for throwing away garbage in a skip in Birkirkara that, she claimed, was for residents only.

Citing a council bylaw that, according to mayor Joanne Debono Grech does not exist, the warden fined Jean Paul Bellizzi €46 for putting his bag of rubbish in an empty green skip.

She fined me an additional €23 when I refused to jump into the filthy skip to fish it out

“Seconds later, she also fined me an additional €23 for disobeying her orders when I refused to jump into the filthy skip to fish it out,” Mr Bellizzi said.

The incident took place in Triq il-Passju at 5pm on Tuesday when Mr Bellizzi was at his in-laws’ house.

He said he walked to the skip at the end of the road with bag in hand and dumped it into an empty skip.

All of a sudden, a woman got out of a car with JET registration plates – usually used by wardens – and asked him for his identity card.

He asked her for documentation since she was wearing jeans and she produced a card, covering her name and surname with her fingers. He produced his own ID Card and when she saw that he was not a Birkirkara resident, the warden told him that he was not supposed to dispose of rubbish in skips that were reserved for residents only.

She then issued a fine through the wardens’ printing machine, Mr Bellizzi said.

She also told him to fish the bag out of the skip, which Mr Bellizzi said he found “ridiculous”, as it meant he would have to jump in and this would be highly unhygienic.

His father-in-law joined him as he argued against the fines and the police were called in.

When the officers arrived, Mr Bellizzi explained, the sergeant said they had received a report that a warden was being assaulted.

“I was angered and I could have raised my voice but at no time did I lift a finger or was rude to her, I’m not the type,” he said, adding that the police had never heard of this bylaw either.

He said it was not the first time he had thrown garbage in the skip.

The Birkirkara mayor told Times of Malta when contacted yesterday that this was the second report the council had received about this warden handing out these kinds of fines.

She promised that she was investigating the matter and planned to report the warden.

“If there is a bylaw to this effect, I do not know about it.

“As far as I know, there is nothing of the sort.

“And if there was, I would oppose it as it doesn’t make sense. The skips are there to be used and a tool to keep the locality clean,” she said.