Further to my letter titled ‘Litter bins’ (TMID 4 May) in which letter I had stated that when, on 28 April, I had asked the ‘Cleansing Services Department’ as to when the dark green litter bins – removed from Floriana due to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger’s visit – will be put back in place, (only to be told that they would not have been returned for another three weeks at least because new ones were expected from abroad).

To further underline the obtuse policy of the ‘Cleansing Services Department’ (Resources and Rural Affairs Ministry), I was then contacted at the Floriana local council by an official from the ‘Cleansing Service Department’ exactly after my article appeared in print and was asked what the council preferred: either the old dark green litter bins to be permanently reinstated or else being provided with the new ones when they arrived.

To this I replied that the council would have preferred a temporary return of the old ones only to be replaced by the new ones as soon as they arrived.

Apparently, even the simple thought was beyond their imagination and they seemed rather astonished when I forwarded this opinion about the matter.

A case I point was the ‘Valletta Grand Prix’ (held on 8 and 9 May) which event drew large crowds along St Anne Street (Floriana) without a single litter bin in sight.

One wonders whether the ‘Environmental Upgrade Committee’ (Office of the Prime Minister) will send photos of rubbish accumulated due to this pig-headed policy to the ‘Department for Local Government’ as it usually does when it rushes into print.

Edward Torpiano

Councillor

Floriana