WIED QIRDA

Ambjent Malta pledges to tackle areas overlooked in recent clean-up

The executive chairman of the newly set up Ambjent Malta agency has told The Malta Independent that it would carry out a proper clean-up at Wied Qirda after this newspaper informed him that a recent ‘clean-up’ had overlooked several areas.

A couple of weeks ago, The Malta Independent wrote that illegal dumping at Wied Qirda, on the outskirts of Żebbuġ and Siġġiewi, was an ongoing problem. This newspaper published photos of the dumped material, which included a stereo, construction waste, a broken windscreen, rubber mats, remnants of a bonfire filled with rubbish and a rudimental stone, and a concrete oven constructed on site.

A few days later, Ambjent Malta agency told Malta Today that, following this paper’s report, it had cleared over 840 kilos of illegally dumped material from the valley. The agency said the clean-up, between 14 and 17 August, had been carried out by hand to avoid any negative impact on the valley.

When this newspaper visited the valley again on 19 and 20 August, it found that the clean-up had not reached several of the sites flagged in our original report.

Conspicuous items such as the bonfire and the broken windscreen were still there, and the road leading down to the heart of the valley remained littered with all sorts of items, including plastic bottles, shotgun shells and mounds of construction waste.

A room located close to a fireworks factory is still being used as a dump for all sorts of materials.

When contacted by this newspaper, Ambjent Malta chairman Conrad Borg Manche said he would personally inspect the valley and promised that the situation would change. Borg Manche, who is also the mayor of Gzira, says he accepted to take charge of the agency because he truly believes that it is needed in a country where littering and dumping is widespread.

He contacted this newsroom a second time to say that he had been assured by the director that a clean-up had indeed taken place in parts of the valley, but invited us to send him any photos of dumping, so that the agency would send people to clean it up.

The Malta Independent took up the invitation and sent Borg Manche photos of the areas that need cleaning up, also indicating the locations on a map.