Two of the entities which are giving good results are the Cleansing and Maintenance Division and the Community Officers at LESA. Both went through a reform, which is bearing fruit. And both needed this re-organisation which has given a new life not only to the entities, but has also given motivation and a much needed boost to both workforces.

During the past year and a few months, drastic changes were made within LESA with the main aim to lead to more serious enforcements. In fact, local enforcement is now no longer limited to traffic offenses but has spread to other important areas, such as the environment.

The Cleansing and Maintenance Division invested in various machinery and human resources that are working mornings and evenings, seven days a week, to be able to cater for the demand.

This week, together with Parliamentary Secretaries Silvio Parnis and Dr Deo Debattista, we announced some results achieved. 

From the beginning of this year up to now, 1,872 environment related fines were given by Community Officers while the Cleansing and Maintenance Division collected over 9,000 tons of illegally dumped waste.

During the Summer period, from the 1st of July till today, 918 environmental fines were issued, ranging from illegally dumped waste, disposing of cigarettes in public areas, waste bags put out for collection on the wrong day and other contraventions.

The localities with the highest number of fines issued during this period are the localities of San Pawl il-Baħar, Buġibba, Qawra and Xemxija. A total of 482 environmental fines were issued in these localities. Furthermore, 112 environmental fines were issued in Sliema and 88 in Valletta. During this period, the Cleansing and Maintenance Division collected around 3,000 tons of illegally dumped waste.

I thank all those involved for their work to achieve this result. With this collaboration between LESA and the Cleansing and Maintenance Division, not only are we establishing more enforcement on illegal dumping, but we’re also creating further awareness within our community to address this issue, for the benefit of our society. Through the hard work of both entities, we are benefiting from safer and cleaner localities. 

Whilst these accomplishments are lauded, I reiterate that this Government is committed to further improve the standard of living of our communities. I also urge the general public for more cooperation for the best interest of our country.

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This evening St Paul’s Bay, Marsaskala and Birzebbuġa for the first time, will have the opportunity to enjoy the activities that the summer carnival brings with it.

After putting on hold the activities which were to happen last weekend, due to the tragic loss of carnival enthusiast Jean Paul Bonnet, consultations were held with the Carnival organisers and we decided to hold the activity starting from today evening.

The Summer Carnival is organised with the collaboration of the Local Councils involved and is characterised with a defile along the streets of the villages named – all of them sea-side localities. Floats taking part are generally smaller than those taking part in the winter carnival.

Summer Carnival will see 12 floats, one hailing from Gozo – which will only take part in St Paul’s Bay – and 5 dancing schools. 

Carnival celebrations are well sought both by locals and visitors alike, and through the organisation of the summer carnival, not only are we enhancing a unique initiative, but we’re also reaching out to our communities by organising such events in different localities and reaching a wider audience, whilst making the summer carnival more accessible.

This year we are also taking the Summer Carnival to Birżebbuġa for the first time, where we will have a street parade featuring a variety of decorative floats accompanied by groups of young dancers.

Starting at 7.30 this evening in St Paul’s Bay with a defile starting from Dawret il-Gżejjer, Saturday’s defile also at 7.30 will be in Birżebbuġa and same time on Saturday in Marsascala.

Working on the involvement of the younger generation in our traditions and folklore, this year another initiative from Festivals Malta for the summer carnival was the collaboration with University and MCAST Students whereby students were invited to submit artistic illustrations representing the summer carnival which will be used for promotional purposes. This initiative is one of several efforts taken up by Festivals Malta to reach wider audiences and to create contact points where the younger members of the community can engage.