€Nearly half of Valletta residents were unsatisfied with the capital’s cleanliness in 2015, according to a Eurostat report.

The report found that 47 per cent were not happy with the city’s cleanliness, with 29 per cent saying they were rather unsatisfied and 18 per cent saying they were not at all satisfied.

Asked about the report, Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli said the city spends “almost twice our cleaning budget”, adding that more government funds were needed.

“For every euro the government gives us, we spend almost €2,” Prof. Dingli said, pointing out that the amount of events and commitments in the city have increased at an “incredible rate”.

People take out garbage bags when they please

He also insisted that people should comply with the timings of garbage collection.

“We cannot keep a city clean if people take out their garbage bags when they please,” he said.

Prof. Dingli also said he was not happy with results showing that 52 per cent of residents were satisfied with the cleanliness of the city.

“Obviously, I would like satisfaction levels to be higher,” he said, pointing out that Valletta is the only locality in Malta with almost two collections per day and insisted that more initiatives to improve the city have been undertaken since 2015.

The Eurostat report saw Valletta placing 18th in the satisfaction rankings. Rome had the lowest percentage, with only nine per cent saying they were satisfied with the city’s cleanliness.

Ventspils in Latvia came on top with virtually all (99 per cent) of its inhabitants responding that they were very or rather satisfied with the cleanliness of their city.

It was followed by another Latvian city, Valmiera (97 per cent), Oviedo in Spain and the city of Luxembourg (both 95 per cent).