Has anyone ever carried out a survey of what tourists think of Malta after taking a ride on a sightseeing coach, particularly in summer?

While many may find the topography interesting, with dome and spires dominating (at least up to now) the skyline, most would definitely feel astonished at the general state of sheer neglect and shabbiness they see on the route. Rubbish dumped by the wayside, tucked in corners and spread out in open countryside, knocked down rubble walls, dirt, and overflowing bins – these and much more greet tourists’ eyes when they are expected to admire the scenery.

What hurts most is that many Maltese – not all – adopt a nonchalant attitude. Looking after one’s surroundings had never been considered an important trait, as shown by the ingrained habit of littering and dumping. There is greater awareness today of the need to improve the physical state of the island but this is not as yet widespread enough among the community to make a real difference to the appearance of the country, bar, of course, some prominent public places.

The strong reaction to the story in this newspaper about the people caught on camera committing over 100 illegal dumping-related offences at bring-in sites in Żebbuġ is refreshing in that it shows that the force against illegal dumping is growing. No fewer than 50 people are expected to be charged over the offences, committed in just 10 days.

The law may not be there to send out messages but, in this case, the culprits deserve to be given the maximum penalty on the statute book. Penalising offenders is one of the strongest deterrents in a country where widespread lack of discipline manifests itself in so many varied forms. Greater discipline all round will work wonders to bring order but the government tends to give only secondary importance to this very significant aspect of public administration.

The installation of more closed circuit television cameras at bring-in sites will help bring about an improvement, as will greater encouragement for householders to dispose of bulky refuse in civic amenity sites or have it collected by the bulky refuse collection service. Unbelievably, some people still prefer dumping bulky refuse in open public spaces rather than taking them to civic amenity sites.

Unsurprisingly in an environment where discipline is considered as an unwanted intrusion, Wasteserv has found that contractors and other commercial operators are abusing the civic amenity system and has had to clamp down on them. In a reform it has just launched, Wasteserv is imposing restrictions on the disposal of waste at civic amenity facilities, pointing out that contractors and other commercial operators have other places where to dispose of their waste. By making use of the civic amenity sites, contractors were circumventing gate fees and putting undue pressure on sites meant for domestic waste. The move is intended to bring about greater discipline in waste management.

It is essential that the new rules and regulations are followed to the letter and that contractors have adequate places where to dispose of waste material.

While these and other measures are steps in the right direction, what the country badly needs is a root-and-branch change in the way it looks at the problem of lack of cleanliness in the country. Successive administrations have refused to give it the priority it deserves.

When the country’s general appearance is deteriorating so fast, the problem ought to be elevated to a high place in the government’s programme.