It is indeed amazing, in this day and age, that a section of Maltese society still dumps bulky objects in streets, fields and any odd place they can find.

One still sees pieces of furniture, old bits of machinery and equipment left to rot wherever people can find a quiet spot to dump them.

The Mepa, for example, recently closed the entrance to a field which was being used for illegal dumping by, believe it or not, contractors who were carrying out roadworks in the vicinity. This is quite simply disgusting. What is even worse is that a farmer who owns a tract of arable land in a place between Rabat and Mtarfa known as il-Marg, was recently charged for keeping scrap vehicles on the site. Did he learn his lesson… no. The incident was repeated.

Situations such as these should not be tolerated. Land is at a premium in Malta – especially agricultural land – it costs an arm and a leg.

If we have a shortage of land, coupled with a myriad of services for disposing of bulky refuse, farmers such as this one should be severely punished, because it is quite simply tantamount to taking both the authorities and the people of Malta for a ride. It is abuse.

This newspaper has long campaigned against illegal dumping. We have even had situations where people have dumped a set of bedroom furniture one day and then the next day have returned to precisely the same spot to dump a mattress.

It is hard for the authorities to spot acts such as these, but this is where the public has a very important role to play. The majority of people nowadays have woken up to the fact that we cannot keep creating such blemishes on our countryside. Many people separate their waste and try to reduce the amount of waste they generate. And then you get ignorant fools who dump such items and simply don’t give a toss. It’s just not on. People should take note when they see people dumping things and report them to the authorities. One does not have to worry – just take down the dumper’s licence plate number and get straight on the phone to report them.

It is especially sad because there was a time, not too long ago, when it was not always that easy to dispose of unwanted bulky refuse.

But now, these facilities are available. There is the bulky refuse service, there are bring-in sites (although it would do no harm at all to see a few more of them) and, of course, there are also skips. Why then do people still resort to dumping things? The answer is simply because they are selfish and ignorant.

We finally have a government that has really put its foot down, especially the Resources and Infrastructure Ministry, in an effort to clean up Malta and make it look nicer through a variety of projects. Off hand, these include cleaning valleys, the Xaghjra promenade, re-opening the soccorso around Xemxija, and countless other bits and bobs that have just generally made Malta look better.

Workers have shown reporters the things they come across and one literally has to see to believe – geysers, sinks, toilets, wardrobes, metal tanks, engines… you name it, you’ll find it.

We need a more intense educational campaign and we need stiffer and harsher fines for people who are caught littering and dumping. It is no longer tolerable; it needs to be stamped out.