Despite the excitement about the introduction of the green wardens way back in October 2005, the authorities had to find a more cost-effective way to implement them less than a year and a half after it was introduced and an alternative system that was introduced has been kept under very low profile, this newspaper has learnt.

A spokesman from the Environment and Rural Affairs Ministry told The Malta Independent yesterday that subcontracting of green wardens was not financially viable due to the difficulty in catching litter louts red-handed and the government reverted to a “much more effective” system by employing former shipbuilding workers from Industrial Projects and Services Limited (IPSL) and providing a service to local councils against littering offences.

By means of the new system, which has been running since May last year, 26 environment field officers were employed by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) to “replace” the green wardens.

By last November, when the new construction site regulations came into effect, a total of 27 environment field inspectors were employed to enforce both the littering regulations, introduced late in 2005 and the Environmental Management of Construction Site regulations.

The first system started off with 40 green wardens and that was already seen as a tough feat, considering they had to supposedly patrol all parts of Malta and Gozo. Less than a year later, the number of green wardens had gone down to a mere 10 due to expenses that this system incurred.

When the littering regulations were first introduced, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with local councils, agreeing to provide plain-clothes green wardens to enforce the littering regulations in rural areas.

Mepa, on the other hand, was in charge of the enforcement of the littering regulations in rural areas that did not fall under the remit of any local council.

The ministry subcontracted green wardens from a private company, The Guard & Warden Service House Ltd, which charged local councils an hourly fee for every warden provided.

The ministry spokesman said the fee for each warden was too expensive.

Moreover, local tribunals were giving a far too broad interpretation of the regulations, so few people were actually being fined.

As a result, the system did not prove to be financially viable, said the spokesman, adding that the government then dropped the system and resorted to IPSL.

The company provided former shipbuilding workers who could be trained, were technical in their approach, expressed an interest in the environment and felt they had a point to prove after being discharged from the shipyards by providing a good service.

These employees are no longer called green wardens, but environment field inspectors; they are given training and since they are employed by Mepa, the authority can afford to charge local councils a smaller fee than what used to be charged by the private company.

The spokesman explained that the government requires more environment field inspectors, but it is very happy with the people from IPSL for their extraordinary contribution towards managing the environment.

He said Mepa automatically sends inspectors to places like promenades and open-air markets, where littering is most likely to take place, but the ministry wanted to further encourage local councils to send for inspectors themselves and acquire the service upon request.

The system is now working very well, said the spokesman, adding that the main aim, particularly when it comes to enforcement of construction site regulations, is to reduce the inconvenience to the public as much as possible, while protecting the environment.

Reports regarding infringements of either of the two sets of regulations, are all looked into, said the ministry spokesman, adding that when it comes to construction site regulations in particular, due to their technicality, the idea was to change contractors’ attitudes, warn them if they are in the wrong and only fine them after repeated offences.

The table shows a breakdown of reports received with regard to infringements of construction site regulations, which are only applicable in the mentioned localities for the time being. The regulations are expected to be enforced in a second group of localities later this year.

The highest number of infringement reports related to Marsascala (25 per cent), and the lowest to Swieqi (five per cent).