Two months after this newspaper reported on the sorry state of Dragunara Road in St Julian’s, which had been turned into an open-air rubbish dump, the situation is back to square one.
Rubbish, including plastic bottles, pieces of metal, plastic bags and bulky items have been dumped in the popular tourist hotspot, which is also home to a number of luxury hotels.
The area had been cleaned up two months ago, after this newspaper reported the matter to the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA). But unfortunately, the situation has deteriorated once again.
The Intercontinental Hotel, is just around the corner and the Paranga restaurant is also on the road in question. When asked, Kevin De Cesare, Managing Director of Eden Leisure group, which operates both establishments, said: “Whenever I see a situation like this I would call the Malta Tourism Association (MTA) immediately. It very disappointing to hear that people are throwing mattresses and rubbish in a tourist area. The amount of litter left in the area is already huge due to the amount of people living here. This means that we need extra cleaning in the area.”
Hugo’s Boutique Hotel faces the dumping site. Hugo Chetcuti, owner of Hugo’s Boutique Hotel, said: “The issue of rubbish and cleanliness has always been a problem in Paceville. I personally am going to try and decrease this by moving the skips on Dargunara Road, so that when the skips overflow people don’t continue throwing rubbish everywhere because they can.The authorities need to understand that with such an influx of tourists, we need double the amount of cleaning, in which the area needs to be cleaned throughout the day.”
Town managers still to come
In a press conference approximately a month ago, Minister of Tourism Konrad Mizzi had spoken about the issues of litter in areas such as Paceville and the St Julian’s area. Mizzi had announced that the government was to introduce town managers in localities popular with tourists. Their primary responsibility would be to maintain the area, take care of cleansing and flag any possible irregularities.
Speaking in St Julian’s, Minister Mizzi had explained that the local councils will not have their budgets altered and the town manager initiative will be financed by the Malta Tourism Authority. Furthermore such operations of cleansing and up keeping will be done by Wasteserv employees.
When asked if town managers had already been appointed, a spokesperson for Minister Mizzi said: “The Foundation for Tourism zones is working on several upkeep works in several touristic areas, some of which being Balluta, Marsascala and Mellieha. The town manager for the Paceville area will be the first to be appointed.”
The Cleansing department is responsible for clean ups. The Malta Tourism Authority is managing coordination of several entities for this touristic area.
