James Debono
Over 5,500 oil drums, pallets and rusty white goods have been removed from the countryside by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) and the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs (MRRA).
Statistics released by the MRRA show that 55952 kg of steel drums were collected in 2008, 50139 kg were collected in 2009 and a further 15750 kg were collected in the first three months of 2010.
Of the 25 different localities earmarked so far, Siggiewi, Mgarr and Mellieha emerge as the localities where most steel drums were cleared in the past three years.
In Siggiewi alone 18063 kg of steel drums were collected in 2008 and a further 2970 kg were collected in the following year.
Efforts in the first three months of 2010 have focused in Ta’Qali were 5280 kg of steel drums were cleared from the countryside.
The illegal cordoning off fields with oil drums, as a protection from wind and also to make them inaccessible, dates back to postwar years when the British services freely distributed among farmers a surplus of oil drums they had in Hal Far.
After long years of neglect this problem is now being tackled head on by MEPA and the PARKS unit within the MRRA
The removed derelict objects deposited on rubble walls in more than 290 sites included white goods (washing machines etc), pallets, rusty oil drums, furniture and other rubbish.
This is not the first attempt to rid the countryside of oil drums and other white goods. A similar attempt was spearheaded by Vincent Moran in the early 1980s, when he was Minister responsible for Health and the environment.
During the past year MEPA has also clamped down on illegal scrap yards, participating in an initiative spearheaded by the Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information, called DOSE – Derelict Objects on Site Exercise.
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