Eleven people were caught dumping illegally since 1 January, when the new littering and dumping regulations were introduced, sources told The Malta Independent yesterday.

Between 1 January, when the regulations came into force after a trial period lasting nearly three months, and 23 January, wardens gave 128 tickets to people caught littering or dumping waste illegally.

Eleven tickets were for illegal dumping, the fines for which were raised to between Lm1,000 and Lm2,500. The illegal dumping infringements were committed in various parts of Malta and Gozo.

The remaining 117 tickets were issued for littering. The fines for littering were raised to between Lm25 to Lm50. The fines go up in areas considered to be of environmental importance.

It is not known if any of the people given a ticket since 1 January were repeat offenders.

The Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry had said that people caught littering or dumping during the trial period would be issued with a warning, but if caught again a second time – when the regulations came into force – they would have to pay double.

The number of tickets issued is, on average, well below the number of warnings that had been issued between October and December. Until 26 December, 1,364 warnings had been issued – 1,231 for littering and 133 for dumping, or an average of around 135 warnings a week.

The average for the first three weeks since the introduction of the new regulations is 43.

This may be taken to mean that either wardens have been extremely careful when giving tickets since the regulations came into force, or that the campaign against illegal dumping has started to have an effect and people are taking fewer risks.

Funds collected from fines will be re-routed to an environmental fund that will finance projects proposed by the local councils who are taking part in the initiative.