The Dirtiest Street in Valletta by Jennifer Micallef - 20.08.09

Dear Sir

If one had to hold a competition entitled “Name the Dirtiest Street in Valletta” I am certain that the lower part of Old Mint Street would win the prize. I am mainly referring to Old Mint Street corner to Archbishop Street and with St.Christopher’s Street. This is one of Valletta’s back streets and therefore we, as residents are its “forgotten people”. We have not seen a cleaner in months if not years. In fact the other day I watched the cleaner on duty – he stopped at the top of our road and made a quick right-turn onto Archbishop Street. Clearly, the man on duty knows that our part of the street requires much more than his mere basic services.

The lower part of Old Mint Street is covered in litter. The residents living in this part of the street have to constantly dodge pigeon droppings. One can hear the droppings falling like pellets and we all know that being showered by slimy substances is not a beautiful experience. Both sides of the pavement are covered in pigeon droppings and some walls of the buildings bear the marks of their habitat since sometimes their waste does not manage to hit the ground! We all know that their droppings damage our beautiful buildings but also carry a lot of diseases.

To make matters worse, some residents of Valletta have taken the habit to train their pets to come to our part of town to foul our street. We have the pleasure of welcoming (with a grunt) dogs of various sizes to come and dump their waste in front of our doorsteps. We cannot even walk on the sidewalk anymore since this is spotted with dog waste. A couple of  my neighbours did approach the residents in question and the answer they got is “my dog can poo wherever he likes!” I thought that it is illegal to allow one’s dog to foul the footpath or any other public place.

In our family home we have adopted some tribal tendencies. We pray to the gods to send us rain and plenty of it. This is the only time that our street gets cleaned. In fact it is quite wonderful to see all the waste being washed away to the bottom of the street. The unfortunate thing is that our neighbours who live further down have piles of dirt waiting outside their door when the sun shines.

One more reason why this part of Old Mint Street could win the coveted prize is because right after sunset we have to share our street with scores of cockroaches. Sometimes I feel as if I am racing against them – will they reach the top of the street first? Will I manage to run away faster than them?

The council of Valletta seems to have closed its eyes on the open air-conditioning ducts that flow openly onto our street. Moss is growing on the walls and spreading on the sidewalks. Is this practise not illegal anymore? Should the owners not be fined and stopped immediately? Oh and by the way, most of the offending buildings that shower the Valletta streets belong to people of stature – lawyers, notaries and Ministerial Buildings. I find it quite ironic that the people who are supposed to preach in the name of the law offend the law in such a manner. 

It is all well and good that the Government spends money on making Valletta more beautiful. Clearly Republic Street, Merchants Street, St. John’s Square and St. Paul’s Street get priority. These are the places mostly frequented by tourists and people of a certain kind (for example – ministers, mayors, chief executives and others of the like). But lets not forget that Valletta has more to it than just these few main spots. The lower end of Old Mint Street, in fact, is visited by hundreds of tourists since many of them come to take a look at the Archbishop’s Palace. It is not the first time that I felt so ashamed at the state of our road. Uneven and dirty sidewalks, road littered with various indescribable types of waste, cars parked on double yellow lines. It is shameful.

Some residents of the lower end of Old Mint Street have taken the initiative to wash the street! IT is despicable that a cleaner has not been seen sweeping our street and that we all have to wait for the first rain of the winter to clean our street. Does it cost so much to employ a mechanical street sweeper to clean these “forgotten” streets? This method is being used in Valletta town centre so why not adopt this same strategy throughout the City? These issues raise Environmental concerns that we as residents are aware of. Valletta is in a state of disarray. Beautiful but dirty.

I had a look at the City of Valletta website and thought it cynical to see that the mission statement of the council is “Improving Quality of Life.”  I would love to invite the mayor and the rest of the team to visit our part of Old Mint Street. I would advise him and his colleagues to steer clear of the side walk thus ensuring that their suits remain clean and to keep their eyes firmly on the road since they might step onto a patch of  foul-smelling dog waste or fossilised remains of cockroaches. 

Jennifer Micallef
www.keepvallettaclean.blogspot.com