Hi ingliza,

Hear hear! I'd fine litter louts even more for being so ignorant and thoughtless! Mind you litter is still one big problem in the UK even though I believe people can be fined for dropping it.

Regarding the cigarette ends in the sand on the beaches, I reckon Golden Bay must take the prize for this. Whenever we've been there every handful of sand seemed to be full of them. I don't think this is at all fair to the children and I hope this litter ruling will include fining people for the disgusting habit of leaving cigarette ends on beaches!!!

Trev

It all sounds okay but be wary of these wardens. It has been reported that they have been handing out fines to the locals for washing the pavements with soapy water and putting their rubbish out for the dustmen to collect more than an hour before the collection is due! I know the rubbish being put out sounds okay but if the collection is due at 7.30a.m then who is going to be up everyday at 6.30

Thank you Trev,
Glad someone agrees with me on the cigarette ends in the sand issue. Last summer my niece wanted to take a small bag sand back home to England but had to pick out the cigarette ends from it
Yes m&n, I have also heard about the washing the pavement with soapy water fine. I don't know if anyone has actually been fined yet though as the laws only came into effect on the 1st of the year. Bit confusing - you need to wash your pavement, but I guess soapy water could be slippery. Hopefully it will stop people washing their balcony by just sweeping water off of it onto the pavement below Yes, 7.30 is a bit early for the door to door rubbish collection, most areas start at 8.30. My area is about 9.30 -10.00 which is fine for me because I don't have a job, but many people have to leave home early to drop their kids at school on their way to work, so the "not more than one hour before collection" rule is not ideal for my area either! The solution is to put your bin bag in the nearest mini skip when it is convenient for you
Only time will tell if these laws will have any effect on the tidiness of the island, but it is a step in the right direction at least. There are still places that abuse the no smoking laws.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=210345

I agree Ingliza that it certainly is a step in the right direction. I just hope that some day they will provide bins located on the streets similar to spain for people to put their rubbish in rather then leaving plastic bags on the corners.
I also have noticed a lot of bars allowing people to smoke in them, shame

I had to smile when ingliza mentioned about the custom of washing off their balcony straight onto the road below because a couple of years ago we were walking down Triq- Milner (Milner Street), in Sliema when there was a big whoosh and a torrent of dirty water just missed us. My son was tickled pink and I must admit it made us a bit wary of walking under the back street balconies after that!

Trev