So, 11 people have been caught dumping waste illegally in the first 23 days since the coming into force of the new regulations (TMID, 26 January).

This practically means an average of one person being caught every two days. Added to this, 117 people were caught littering, an offence which carries lesser fines.

However I think that the number of people caught causing harm to the environment by littering and dumping is still low. This is confirmed by the fact that when the trial period was in force the wardens caught an average of 135 people a week, and now that the rules have come to be the average has dropped to just 43 a week.

I am sure that the wardens can do better. Just to give an example, a walk down Republic Street in Valletta at any given time would result in many people being caught throwing tissues, packets and cigarette butts on the ground.

I understand that it is not an easy job for the wardens. Yet I believe that they should be stricter in their approach. It is only by being so that we would have a cleaner Malta and that people will start realising that what is public belongs to everyone.

M. Galea

Sliema