It is no secret that governments take the most unpopular decisions – those which could cost it votes in an election – in the first months or a couple of years into their term in office. In so doing, they would then have ample time to make up for it before the people go to the polls once again.

It happens each and every time, and this newspaper has already commented in this regard about the reforms that the government has embarked upon since being returned to office last March. The reforms that are being carried out at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, rent regulations and public transport may not go down well with some sectors, but they are sorely needed to remove red tape and inefficient systems, as well as to make them more user-friendly.

Other reforms are perhaps less controversial, and one of them involves the changes that are envisaged in the way local councils operate. Here there is much greater consensus.

One other issue that was taken up by the government after the election – and no government would have ever dreamed of doing it before – is the exercise to take back public property that was in more ways than one taken over by private interests.

When, just before summer, Lands Department enforcement officers and policemen descended on Sliema to order the removal of tables, chairs and other furniture which catering and other establishments had put out for clients, blocking pavements on the Tigne’ and Sliema seafront, few would have thought that it was just the beginning of a comprehensive exercise that has covered various parts of Malta.

Since then, enforcement notices have been issued and action taken in other popular areas such as Marsascala, Qawra, Marsaxlokk, Bugibba and now also at Ghajn Tuffieha. Owners of establishments who were encroaching on public land were given 48 hours notice to remove all the material that have abusively placed on public land. If this was not done, the material was removed by the authorities and the permit revoked.

Yet perhaps the biggest operation was that which involved the removal of the caravan site in Bahar ic-Caghaq. For years on end, this piece of land had been taken over by caravan owners or people who even constructed small buildings in which they could reside over the summer season.

Warning letters were handed out and, within two days, the authorities started demolishing all illegal buildings and removing caravans that were illegally occupying public spaces. When one remembers the incidents that had taken place in the Mellieha area in the 1990s when the government had attempted a similar exercise, it must be said that this time round the operation went smoothly, as was also acknowledged by the parliamentary secretary responsible for public lands, Jason Azzopardi.

Dr Azzopardi said that public opinion regarding law enforcement on the matter and the point that public land was to be reinstated for public use and enjoyment was very positive.

Yet the job is not complete yet and it is good to see that the government intends to continue the exercise, as can be seen from the fact that Ghajn Tuffieha is next on the list.

There are other areas where abuse is rampant and it would be wrong for the authorities to stop here. It would be an injustice to owners who have been “hit” if others escape the net, and therefore the government must continue its work to restore public land to the public wherever it is.

Secondly, areas such as the one at Bahar ic-Caghaq should not be left to deteriorate into a dumping site or simply neglected. To be fair to the caravan owners, they did keep the area clean and took great care of it. The government should do all it can to turn the Bahar ic-Caghaq area – and other similar zones – into places where people could recreate themselves, perhaps even at a small cost.