When Lovin Malta features specific towns in Malta and Gozo we always look at all the wonderful places and spaces offered by these localities. But sometimes it’s important to focus on the more negative aspects to really push for the change these towns deserve.

With its extremely central location and huge expanse, Birkirkara could very well be the place to be for 2017. As a lot of you pointed out, however, that’s not to say that the giant town is without its faults, so we decided to head on down there ourselves to check it out. This is what we found. 

1. Garbage management is a big problem

Those dreaded black bags are quite an eyesore, and when they show up in hordes in places they’re not meant to be, the whole thing gets much worse. As if that wasn’t enough, the photos we took were in places that had CCTV cameras and signs explicitly saying not to throw rubbish there.

To add insult to injury, they were also taken out at the wrong times! If you live in Birkirkara and are still a little unsure as to which bags need to be taken out when, here’s a handy waste collection weekly chart.

2. Many roads need a lot of love

We’re quite aware that these aren’t even the worst roads in Malta, or either indeed Birkirkara, but the point remains that these aren’t some dodgy back-alley streets in the middle of nowhere; these are all main roads in one of the country’s most central towns. 

Birkirkara’s got a lot of exciting businesses that are sure to attract thousands of people to it this year, but the last thing you’d want to get when you’re visiting your favourite hip cafe’ is a flat tire. 

3. Some buildings have been left in a bad state

Not every building needs to be a shiny block of metal and glass, and we get that over-development is an increasingly worrying thing in Malta, but there’s a big difference between opposing development and allowing dilapidation. 

It’s a shame that we could quickly pin-point a substantial amount of examples of the latter in Birkirkara, especially seeing as it’s also home to some of the most gorgeously cared-for and decorated townhouses this side of the island. 

4. Certain pavements and roads need to be much cleaner

There’s no better first impression your town can give than an overall cleanliness throughout its streets. And certain areas in Birkirkara leave much to be desired as far as this factor goes, especially considering that what we found all this in very central areas of the town. 

5. Everyone needs to be pulling the same rope

It’s quite easy to point fingers at a person (official or otherwise) for all the above issues, but the fact of the matter remains that not everything can and should be piled onto a body like the Local Council.

While issues like road repair obviously can’t be tackled by the residents, other things definitely can. Seeing rubbish piling up along a wall overloaded with signs asking not to leave garbage is just disgraceful. Seeing the CCTV surveillance just makes it that much more frustrating. 

There is no quick fix for these problems, but the blame game is definitely not a solution.

Share this post if you’re willing to make a little change to make a big difference.

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).