Illegal waste dumping in St Julian's out of control as mayor calls for dedicated wardens

St Julian's mayor Albert Buttigieg says more resources are needed for localities suffering from illegal waste dumping

Photo taken by Adrian Dominic Ellul
Photo taken by Adrian Dominic Ellul

St Julian's needs a specific team of wardens to monitor illegal waste dumping in the locality, mayor Albert Buttigieg said. 

Buttigieg told MaltaToday that unfortunately illegal dumping in St Julian’s was nothing new. He highlighted that residents in the area had become frustrated with the situation.

St Julian's is a problematic locality as people ignore waste collection times
St Julian's is a problematic locality as people ignore waste collection times

“Residents are beginning to ask questions as to why the situation is not being handled effectively,” he said. 

Buttigieg said that the only solution to the problem, was for a dedicated team to be set up to monitor the situation. “Over the past few months, we have had two enforcement officers patrolling the area, however that simply is not enough, their needs to be more resources pumped into problem localities such as ours.”

The situation was brought to light by one of St Julian's local councillors, Adrian Dominic Ellul, who posted to social media that the situation with illegal dumping in the locality was getting out of hand. 

A photo taken on an early Saturday afternoon: rubbish can be seen on the main street of St Julian's
A photo taken on an early Saturday afternoon: rubbish can be seen on the main street of St Julian's

Ellul told MaltaToday that the problem of illegal dumping has remained consistent over the last few years in the locality even after the introduction of the new recycling scheme.

“Whether San Giljan is turning into a dumping ground or not, is not my place to say. Unfortunately, however that is what some residents themselves feel is happening,” he said. 

Ellul said that illegal dumping in the peripheral areas of St Julians, especially Ta Giorni, Balluta and the Sacred Heart area had not abated. “I think the problem is stemming from a laissez-faire attitude in some people. As I said in my post, this is not simply a question of enforcement by the authorities.”

He stressed that while there were many who followed the rules, “unfortunately a very small minority do not.”

“Unfortunately, extra costs have to be incurred by the Council to keep the locality clean,” he said. 

“I understand that resources are limited and that every local council views its locality as a priority, but I believe that more effort should be done by everyone involved (be it State Authorities, the local council and residents themselves) to stop this problem,”Ellul said.