Former PN MP Franco Debono was among those who criticised a suggestion posed by Wasteserv’s CEO for people to freeze their organic waste bags in order to avoid bad odours until the day comes for them to be picked up.

Richard Bilocca’s suggestion on an episode of Xtra on Tuesday prompted raised eyebrows and some backlash as well as Malta faces a significant waste management problem.

“Today, the organic bag is collected three times a week, and the black bag twice a week. Throwing the organic waste away with the black bag is not a solution. A small suggestion, to avoid the problem of bad odours, is to freeze the [organic] bag when it is full to be taken out on the correct day. This does not create any problems for us [Wasteserv],” Bilocca said when asked about complaints that the organic waste creates bad odours, especially in summer.

Amongst the most vocal of those with backlash was former PN MP Franco Debono, who took to social media to detail his ire.

“This man needs to do two things,” Debono wrote: “Apologise to the Maltese people for asking them to put their rubbish in the fridge. And resign.”

He said that failing this, the “biggest protest in Malta’s history” should be organised.

“Not even when we were a colony and they treated us badly were things like this said.  Give us our country back,” Debono concluded.

The post garnered quite a reaction, including from former Labour Party MEP Marlene Mizzi, who commented asking whether the WasteServ CEO follows this practice himself, in which case he should publish photos showing how it is done.

In an earlier post, Debono noted that he had “stood up to be counted” a decade ago when the people “rebelled against the arrogance of the party in government” – which at the time was the Nationalist Party.

He noted that one of the biggest fiascos which paralysed the country back then was the public transport reform, but “the arrogance we are seeing today where the country is being asked to freeze and store its rubbish until the waste collection truck passes is arrogance which this country has never seen the like of.”

Debono said that the people need to stand up and be counted and show that it will not allow people to anyone to insult them in such a manner and with such suggestions.

In a statement earlier in the day, PN leader Bernard Grech said that the government should be increasing waste collection services, not telling people to freeze their waste.