Taking matters into our own hands

You know a country’s infrastructure is not working when people have become so frustrated with the lack of enforcement that they are taking matters into their own hands and naming and shaming infringements on Facebook. This is citizen activism in practice and it will continue until those in authority wake up and start dealing with these things seriously.

Facebook groups such as “Clean up Sliema and St Julian’s” have sprouted up, pointing fingers at the rubbish and dumping everywhere, with each locality taking the initiative to post photos of the litter and garbage bags that are left festering in the sun for hours. 

We don’t want to live in filth, but that is what it feels like, as I see constant photos of mounds of rubbish that remind me of when Naples had its rubbish collection crisis a few years ago. Is it too much to ask for this pressing issue to be tackled? 

The collection days and times in each town and village vary according to what the local council decides, but it is patently clear that rubbish collection, especially in the most densely populated places, is not keeping up with the amount of trash being generated. Some people blatantly ignore the day/time of collection in their area, and simply put their rubbish out and leave it there uncollected, sometimes for days.

If the problem of keeping Malta clean is due to lack of funds then I suggest we get our priorities straight. Rather than channelling money to OTT monuments and statues to controversial politicians, can’t we give it to local councils instead? And I don’t mean giving them money for cultural activities as happened this week. It’s all well and good for villages to come up with events which pay homage to ricotta, oil and chocolate, but if you had to ask residents what they would prefer I think they would tell you that having clean streets and pavements should come first.  

Our quality of life and sense of wellbeing depend on it: why do you think we are so uplifted when we travel? It’s not just the welcome change of scenery and the need to escape Malta’s claustrophobic smallness; it’s also the tidiness and cleanliness of streets and pavements, which hit like you a bullet between the eyes. Your mind explodes with the immaculateness of it all. How can you NOT feel less stressed when you don’t have to slalom your way through dog poo and yesterday’s garbage bags. which have been torn by stray animals scavenging for food?

I have never understood this inability of central and local governments to solve the rubbish and litter problem. It is clear that collecting organic waste only on certain days of the week, alternating with the collection of recycled waste, is not working. Of course, the common citizen needs to do his part as well, but it has to be a collaborative effort between finding the most reasonable time for households to take out their garbage, and then for everyone to obey the law.

It is also needs to be stressed that when you separate clean paper, plastic, metal and glass into separate bags for collection, the actual amount of organic waste is cut down drastically. If you miss the recycled waste truck it’s no big deal because the clean waste can be kept for a few days and will not smell, while disposing of it in recycling bins is a handy alternative. Also, it is time that apartment blocks with more than four flats start being equipped with their own common wheelie bin. 

Which brings me to enforcement. Nothing, but nothing will make people stick to the rules unless they are penalized with a hefty fine. I’m not talking ten or 20 euro either; I’m saying a whopping figure of €1000 for taking your garbage out on the wrong day or time, or if you are caught dumping or littering.

Call me draconian, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  

Believe me, with that kind of penalty people will come up with their own solutions and pressure will be placed on local councils to find a collection time which makes sense for all.

Personally, I don’t enjoy walking up early when I don’t have to, simply to take out our rubbish, because our local council decided to change the time of our collection to 7.30am (gee, thanks), but I’ve had to discipline myself to do it. Having said that, the time change was made after a questionnaire was sent round, so I guess that is what the majority wanted.  

Another area where frustrated, very angry people have taken the bull by the horns are the numerous number of cars with foreign license plates that park haphazardly and illegally. When car owners realized that the police and wardens do not have the authority to book the owners of these cars because they are not Malta-registered, a Facebook group called “Carpark Paradise`’ was set up and was immediately successful.

They were posting photos continuously and relentlessly until the authorities finally got off their behinds and started towing the cars away. Did it need to come to that, however? What are our taxes for, if not to pay for the traffic police and wardens to look at what is happening in our streets, and enforce the law? If they need us to tell them how to do their jobs then something, somewhere is very wrong.

The same goes for the numerous traffic accidents, ranging from “mere” bumper to bumpers, to the more serious crashes resulting in serious injuries and fatalities.  I see countless infringements every time I am out, so how come wardens/police seem to be oblivious to all these lawbreakers? Make me a warden for a day and I could probably rake in thousands of euros as I see drivers blithely chatting and texting on their phones, shooting out of side streets and zigzagging across roundabouts, dashing through red lights, and over-speeding and overtaking.

Please Mr Government, try to spend our taxes on beefing up the policing of our roads instead of splashing money around on appointing questionably-qualified people with fancy titles to government boards and quangos. 

And another thing: do people even know how to read road signs? I have used the Coast road several times since it was re-opened and I am convinced that those bad accidents that took place were because they think the signs are just mere decorative pretty little things that have nothing to do with them.  Drive at 40kph, don’t overtake and you should get to your destination in one piece.

And while I’m on this rant, here is another one. Are the refugees who are buying second-hand cars being obliged to take driving lessons to learn about the highway code and then made to take a driving test? I saw a picture of a car which wound up completely stuck on railings, and the mind just boggles. 

As for drivers all across the board, my solution would be to take the driving license away from the worst offenders with one hand while handing them a tallinja card with the other. I think for some people the thought of having to use the bus is a prospect far worse than jail, so maybe that would be the best deterrent. I can just see the public awareness campaign slogan now: “You better start driving safely or you will HAVE to use the bus”.  

As I’m writing this, I’ve comes across a harebrained suggestion emanating from a White Paper published by the Education Ministry: apparently, one way to reduce traffic when September rolls around is for schools to start one hour earlier. Yes, that’s right, make parents and kids wake up at an even more ungodly hour, that will make everything just peachy keen. I guess we need to open yet another Facebook page to give the government some more common sense solutions for this problem as well.