Annabel Galea (The Independent, 4 September) says it is only rain, and we do not sit in stagnant sewer overflows. She must be living on the moon. We do not have stagnant water, the water flows strongly. It also goes into the drainage system and comes out with the sewage, much of which it leaves behind.

I had to go to Balzan/Birkirkara on Monday at about 10am. There was no flooding then, the heavy rain had stopped hours ago. But I had to pick my way gingerly among the raw sewage in the street, left behind by the floodwaters. The streets were littered with it, it could hardly be avoided, and the stench was stomach turning. I can still smell it, 24 hours later. It is beyond me how people can live in those conditions.

To think that a Prime Minister lived within metres of that area, and did nothing about it in his terms of office, shows just how caring people can be. Those living in such awful conditions must have been his supporters, never having ever run a protest march against the situation. That is how things stand. People accept the awful smell of sewage every time it rains, because it is their prime minister in power. Some hero indeed!

J. Galea,

Rabat