The announcement that two of the country's most popular beaches, Golden Bay and Ramla L-Hamra, will effectively go smoking free is most welcome.

The government on Sunday said that as from 1 January 2026, smoking on both beaches will be limited to designated areas which will be equipped with ashtrays that, the government added, will be cleaned regularly. Smoking would be prohibited on the rest of those two beaches.

Environment Minister Miriam Dalli said that "this measure was inspired by conversations I had with children. It is an environmental step addressing cigarette butts that end up in the sea and take a long time to decompose, potentially leading to a healthier coastal environment. With this move, Malta is joining other countries that have introduced such restrictions. It is another way in which we are protecting our marine environment for the common good," Minister Dalli said.

The government said that enforcement will be carried out in collaboration between the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), the Health Department, the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), the Local Enforcement System Agency (LESA), and the Malta Police Force. It said that violators will face a fine of €150.

The move is good not only from an environmental standpoint, but is also beneficial for people's health. It is never pleasant to be lying on a beach to suddenly have a person next to you light a cigarette, forcing you and those around you to endure the smell and inhale the smoke. One sees plenty of cigarette butts just lying on the beach and these are undoubtedly washed out to sea, so doing something to tackle this issue is the right move.

The government saying that these zones will be equipped with ashtrays and will be cleaned regularly is also important. This will help eliminate cigarette butts being put out in the sand, and ensuring that these ashtrays do not overflow will mean that the cigarette butts do not end up polluting the surrounding area.

One does question, however, why this is being done as a pilot project, and why it isn't just launched as an initiative across the islands' beaches as a whole. A point of criticism which must be made is why this initiative is only being implemented next year, rather than having started at the beginning of last summer.

Malta has beautiful beaches, but litter had always been a problem. The clean ups organised around the country each year help. The problem of cigarette butts on beaches is one which has been highlighted in the past. In 2021, for instance, the Saving our Blue campaign saw 13.54 kg cigarette butts picked up in clean-ups across the country. This goes to show just how many cigarette butts are discarded.

The ban of certain single-use plastic products in Malta is another example of a positive measure that had been introduced, as it was another step in favour of helping the environment.

Initiatives such as these are steps in the right direction.