There is no denying that the Red Palm Weevil (RPW) is destroying our palm trees. They are being infected by the offspring of the pupating larvae in elongated oval cylindrical cocoons made of fibrous strands about 40 mm long.

An adult weevil emerges from this cocoon two or three weeks later (the RPW life cycle is about three and a half months) - by that time the host palm is long dead.

If anyone has any doubts on the sorry situation in Malta and the ineffective action taken (if any) to control this epidemic, I invite the person responsible at the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Environment to go, without delay, to the nuns' convent behind the aqueduct at Mrieħel.

There are two huge palms, one of which alas is too late to salvage, as the weevil got to it and cocoons are all over the place.

No master plan to systematically contain the epidemic exists or, if it does, things are moving at less than a snail's pace. The only containment to date is rendering Malta and a 10 km buffer as an infested zone.

What is needed is an effective plan to locate all the palm trees throughout Malta (all species, as per the latest EU directive 2007/365/EC, and not just date palms); systematically removing and burning the destroyed or infected palms; placing traps in all healthy palms to monitor any signs of infestation or weevils in the area; daily monitoring by trained and dedicated personnel to control the propagation of the infestation; and prohibiting the importation of any planted trees from any source unless they are accompanied by a valid plant passport (ref. EU directive 92/105/EEC).