The other day I was talking to a good friend who told me she had just been to a wedding in Cornwall, England. She said that the place was beautiful, neat, tidy and clean. She then turned to me and said she was so depressed when she came back to Malta and saw all the dirt and lack of concern in our immediate surroundings.

 I said, “come on, cheer up, it’s not all like that”, trying to buck up her obviously flagging feelings, but then I looked around me and saw she was absolutely correct. When you concentrate on things around you in Malta, you can feel depressed. Very depressed.

Of course, if you condensed all of England into an area the size of Malta, you would also get the good directly mixed with the bad, but being a large country, you can choose never to enter areas that may depress you. You can’t do this in Malta.

If we didn’t have the sea surrounding us, the wonderful weather and an abundance of amazing historical buildings, Malta could be quite depressing.

But, we have these wonderful things that people want more than anything and are prepared to overlook the other factors, that make our island look shabby.

But this need not to be the case if we use our heads. We all know that here in Malta maintenance is practically non-existent. All over the country things and places are falling to pieces.

When newly built, all is ok, until wear and tear and carelessness sets in.

Then things start looking tatty.

First of all, this attitude must be stopped, and locals and our visitors must respect our country and we locals must keep our nation and all its buildings and surrounding areas clean and maintained well to a high standard at all times.

This is a big ask, and probably one that would take a lot of time and education.

However, we can start by creating small areas around Malta into beautiful oases, where everything in those areas are perfect.

Just as we have an organism set up for roundabouts, just as we have just formed a special department for roads, we can form a special private-public organisation that will create and maintain these wonderful areas around our islands.

Let me explain how this can be done.

First you choose small areas, and I mean small areas around Malta and Gozo, that can be designated tourism priority areas, or to use another name ‘small oases’.

Areas such as Wied iż-Żurrieq/Blue Grotto, Spinola Bay, Balluta Bay, Paceville around the Hilton Hotel, the Ferries in Sliema, Ta’ Xbiex gardens; only 10 streets, Mdina, central Rabat, central Siġġiewi, Sliema promenade, parts of Vittoriosa, Kalkara Bay, Cospicua, New University area, central Marsascala, central Marsaxlokk, Mosta near the church, Mellieħa near the church, Buġibba square by the sea, parts of Lija, the Valletta Waterfront; and in Gozo, Mġarr, Ċittadella, central Rabat, Xlendi, and parts of Marsalforn.

This will cost money. But we have money. After spending on needy social commitments, what better way to spend money to make and keep parts of Malta and Gozo beautiful?

There could be other areas.

These places, covering small attractive areas, would be exclusively looked after by this private/public organisation, and designed, colour coded and maintained to the very highest level, leaving not a stone unturned to have them and keep them world class.

This will cost money. But we have money. And after spending on needy social commitments, what better way to spend money to make and keep parts of Malta and Gozo beautiful, so that people, locals and visitors alike, can admire the gem that we have, and recommend it to all their friends.

Imagine, if you can, these small areas full of flowers, benches, perfect roads and pavements, clean dustbins, all buildings colour coded in the best Mediterranean fashion. Wow!

Not a broken pavement, broken wall, potholed road, bent signpost, hanging electrical and other wires, rusty lamp posts, broken water main and drain covers, dirty pavements and steps, faded road markings, posters, and graffiti, anywhere.

Gosh, it would be heaven.

It would cost money to upkeep these areas to this very high standard, but that will be the most important part of the whole exercise. Finally, places, all over Malta and Gozo, will be very well maintained.

We have done this in Mdina and Ċittadella, so we are not thinking the impossible.

Maybe, just maybe, the areas adjoining these oases, may say to themselves, hey, these areas look nice, so let us make and upkeep our areas better. Maybe. You never know.