We have just come back from a holiday abroad; we visited France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, covering thousands of kilometres, and we were more than impressed by all the roads we drove through. We never saw a single pothole, not even on country lanes. The roads are perfect, not one patched, as they are in Malta. No wonder all the cars there are in perfect condition.

The other day we took an Arriva bus from the airport; the trip took one-and-a-half hours. We would have enjoyed the trip, if only the roads were not so bumpy. There was a time when we literally jumped from the seat.

I am aware that millions of euros are being spent on the roads in certain areas. For goodness’ sake we need to have all the roads done, and done in such a way that when it rains, they remain intact.

There is a proposal to open an aquarium in our locality; this is a good idea. But before that, the roads should be given priority. Buġibba and Qawra are tourist centres but all the roads here are in a terrible state, not to mention the disgraceful appearance of the pavements.

Another thing that struck me was the cleanliness of the countries we visited. Our island is filthy and it seems to get worse every year.

I implore whoever is concerned to spare some time to pass through our street, Ras il-Qawra, coming from Triq it-Trunċiera, during the day, and have a good look on the right where a lot of rubbish and dirt has accumulated.

Ours is a small island; it does not take much to keep it clean, as long as fines are imposed on anyone seen throwing even an empty plastic bottle or an empty packet of crisps.

Let us make the country a clean place everybody will be proud of.