As Malta starts getting used to a new waste collection system, PL MP Rosianne Cutajar has proposed a new system to help counter the unsightly practice of discarding rubbish bags in the street.

Addressing Parliament yesterday, Cutajar said all new blocks of apartments should have their own garbage rooms where residents would discard their black, grey and organic waste bags.

“I know some developers already take this initiative but I also know some developers resist it,” she said. “I don’t think it’s excusable in any way for a developer not to build a garbage room. If they have millions of euro to build a block of apartments, they can afford to build a garbage room.”

Cutajar said residents will likely have to hire a private contractor to pick up this waste but that doing so will be affordable if they pool their resources.

“It cannot be that we walk in the streets and see these stacks of rubbish, 20 bags on each other, wherever we go. It’s not a pleasant experience for us and tourists alike, it makes us look like a third-world country.”

This was among a number of proposals Cutajar put forward yesterday to improve Malta’s construction industry. Others include concealing restoration works of public buildings by hanging posters of the plans over the netting, covering skips to stop passers-by from dumping waste inside it, and merging all government bodies that regulate construction into a single entity.

“These are small things that will aesthetically make a difference, especially in a country like Malta when a lot of construction works are going on at the same time,” she said.