Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis is working on a plan to set up a cleaning foundation aimed at giving a boost to the maintenance of areas where tourism is high.

The idea is for the new organisation – to be officially known as the Foundation for Tourism Zones – to build on an experiment introduced last year with the setting up of the National Tourism Zones Committee.

The committee has been getting into the nitty-gritty of the problems faced by localities connected with tourism, focusing on cleanliness, maintenance and lack of enforcement. It is liaising with stakeholders, particularly local councils, and trying to come up with less bureaucratic solutions.

A spokesman for the Tourism Minister told Times of Malta that Dr Zammit Lewis wants to build on this positive experience by setting up the new foundation.

The aim of the foundation would be to ensure efficient and cost-effective provision of services and maintenance of public areas within each zone and to ensure that waste collection and the cleaning of roads and public areas met demand. The foundation would also coordinate aesthetic improvements such as in relation to street lighting, landscaping, work to improve accessibility and public order, the spokesman said.

According to the ministry, the government will use the foundation to ensure the effectiveness of programmes which in turn would result in a more sustainable tourism environment.

As a result, the Maltese tourism product would take a leap forward in quality.

Currently there are three sub-committees working under the general guidance of the Tourism Zones Committee – one for the north, one for the centre of the island and another for the south.

Representatives of local councils from the localities included in the tourism zones said the foundation would be a positive development as it would be able to assist in the work that currently falls under the responsibility of the councils.

“Often the local council does not have the necessary funds to organise round-the-clock cleaning even though such localities are invaded by tourists particularly during the summer months,” the major of St Julian’s, Peter Bonello, told Times of Malta.

“Through this initiative and in coordination with us it will be possible to obtain the additional funds and resources necessary to maintain our zones in tip-top condition,” he said.

Other local councillors from other tourist zones also welcomed the development.