St Julian's rubbish mountains caused by commercial outlets ignoring the law - mayor

St Julian’s Mayor Albert Buttigieg says government is not enforcing the law which says commercial outlets must hire private contractors to collect the waste they produce

St Julian's streets overrun with rubbish
St Julian's streets overrun with rubbish

St Julian’s is overrun with rubbish because the authorities are not enforcing a law that states that commercial outlets must hire private contractors to collect their waste, the town’s mayor Albert Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg said as a result of this, the area was inundated with black bags. "The law states that all commercial outlets must have a private contractor to collect rubbish they generate."

He also added that commercial outlets should also have a garbage room to store waste, but many do not. "Instead, the rubbish is being left on the street," he said. 

Buttigieg said that enforcement on this matter rested with the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA). The council's contractor also cannot collect commercial waste as they would be fined when disposing of the rubbish. 

On Facebook, animal activist Moria Delia posted a video highlighting the overflow of rubbish with the caption 'unbelievable'. 

Illegal waste dumping is not a new phenom in the area, back in 2019 Buttigieg had told this paper that the town needed a specific team of wardens to monitor illegal waste dumping in the locality.

READ MORE: Illegal waste dumping in St Julian's out of control as mayor calls for dedicated warden