Like all the other residents of St Paul’s Bay (including also Burmarrad, Buġibba, Qawra, Wardija, Xemxija and other smaller areas that form part of this locality), I received a leaflet informing us about ‘a memorandum of understanding’ between St Paul’s Bay local council and the ministry responsible for public cleansing.

I had followed the press conference that took place with much ‘local’ noise near the Wignacourt Tower and had also read a couple of articles in sections of the media informing us about this memorandum. However, little, if any, real information was actually given about its contents and about those who would foot the bill. The impression given was that the government would be forking out the money to finance the agreement reached.

As happened in other instances in the past, one would assume the central government would be offering several additional cleaning services to the local council free of charge, of course.

We all know that public cleansing is an issue of great importance.

I myself participated in local initiatives, by private citizens or by local councils, to try and clean up certain places.

I was threatened by people who irresponsibly break the law and, on more than one occasion, I was also insulted for reminding people about their duty to ensure we keep our localities as tidy as possible.

I speak publicly about the duty of those running different businesses to ensure they make their own personal arrangements for the removal of their rubbish.

This I have also done in Parliament on several occasions.

Unfortunately, the real missing link – proper enforcement – is still lacking. Despite all the noise made when someone is apprehended, the perpetrators persist in their never-ending mission of dirtying and failing to clean up.

Our locality is a complex one and what we require is real action, not gimmicks

It is in light of these realities that I was so very much interested in following what the leaflet we received at home really meant for St Paul’s Bay and its various zones. It turned out that the memorandum would cost the local council, meaning, us residents, €150,000, for a project meant to last for a period of four weeks. This expense was over and above what the local council spends to offer its own services related to cleanliness in the locality.

This made me furious.

So, are local councils now paying the central government if the central government helps them?

I was even more furious because the services to be provided against payment included a good number that used to be provided for free in previous years, as confirmed in answers to parliamentary questions I had tabled. Through this memorandum, the government was paid €150,000 rather than providing the services free of charge. This meant that the government hype was intended to send the wrong message to us residents. What used to be provided for free for a number of months over a period of several years would continue but, this time round, at a cost and for a shorter period.

The message relayed to us was wrong. What the locality needs is not a blitz. What the locality requires is a sustained cleansing programme on a daily basis all year round. The blitz, on its own, is useless if cleaning does not continue to take place daily.

For this to take place, more money has to be provided to the local council.

By implication, the agreement implies that an extra €150,000 every four weeks are required for St Paul’s Bay’s local council. This means an additional budget of nearly €2 million every year for the locality to have the necessary funding for the continuous daily cleansing services. Let me hope this is taken note of, now that the national Budget is so close.

Those who sent us the leaflet never informed us it was us who were paying for the blitz. They never informed us the government was about to syphon off €150,000, which could otherwise have been used for different needs of the locality.

Some projected the memorandum as a blessing. One can only wonder what type of ‘blessing’ was this.

In reality, what is required for the locality to improve in terms of cleanliness is a sustained supply of money for the required services and a sustained budget to meet daily needs.

It also requires us, residents and businesses, to abide by the regulations concerning rubbish disposal and, hence, a budget should be allocated for educational purposes so that no one comes up with the excuse of not being informed about rubbish collection dates and times.

This year’s memorandum gimmick left us €150,000 poorer. Our locality is a complex one and what we require is real action, not gimmicks.

Ċensu Galea is a former Nationalist Cabinet minister.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece