Along with the Prime Minister's decision to take on Mepa's reform directly, the Today Public Policy Institute also comments positively on Dr Gonzi's decision to take over local councils, precisely because of the link between the councils and the environment.
Local councils, the report suggests, should be allocated more funds for environmental enforcement and public cleansing but the funds should be made available on a regional level, following the nine-region framework already adopted for the warden system, for instance.
More, importantly, the report recommends the setting up of a "Clean Environment Consortium" on the lines of a public private partnership agreement reached for the Environmental Landscapes Consortium, which takes care of the embellishment of roundabouts and other public spaces.
The cleaning consortium, aimed at improving the effectiveness of the country's efforts to keep public areas clean, should come in tandem with a new littering act that lays down stiffer fines for littering.
In fact, on the same lines, the report dedicates an entire section to enforcement, proposing the setting up of an Environmental Enforcement Agency which coordinates enforcement across the board. Analysing the different bodies - from the police to Mepa, health inspectors and the ADT - responsible for the enforcement of environmental legislation, the report concludes that there is a serious problem with under-funding but also a dispersal of enforcement in "penny-packets", making the overall effort largely ineffective.
The worst off, in terms of resources allocated to enforcement, is the Malta Resources Authority, which stands out, in the report, with no enforcement officers.
The report also deals with the slacking enforcement of the transport authority (ADT). The control of vehicle emissions, which, the report says, is one of the major air pollutants on the island, should be tackled with a three-pronged solution that incorporates tougher enforcement, reforming the tax regime on the polluter pays principle and improving public transport and clean transport alternatives.
Both vehicle registration and the annual licence should be used as tools to tax polluters, the report recommends, while the importation of second-hand vehicles for resale should be banned or severely penalised. Even fuel taxes should be raised.
The report suggests heavy investment in the public transport with the use of electric buses, for instance, and studying the feasibility of underground transport.