Picnic On A Poster? Sliema’s Litter Bugs Have Upped The Ante And Residents Are Fuming
Speak to any Sliema resident, and they’ll tell you their city is currently drowning in litter. Whether it be rubbish being left out on the wrong days, trucks not passing certain streets for collection, overflowing bins or just general untidiness, the locals have had enough.
But it seems as though this weekend, someone thought they’d get very crafty with their acts of rebellion and threw a picnic on a poster next to the bus stop just outside the old Savoy Hotel site, on the border of Sliema and Gżira.
That sure does look like an interesting spread.
Maltese ħobża, a can of Red Bull, an apple, some milk… are those takeaway boxes from the nearby kebab house?
And those purple boxes – either from a nearby fried chicken spot or from a grill joint in the area.
Whatever the mess is, it’s worth taking a look at what folks had to say about the mess left behind.
It really is quite unbelievable how they missed the bin literally an avocado’s throw away from their little spot.
Things then took a turn for the worse in the comments, as the matter at hand shifted from what the fuck is going on here to a full blow turf war.
Not sure entirely why either area is being referred to as a slum, but we’d rather stay focused on the main point here: the litter.
Malta has been seeing an increase in vigilantism, predominantly in Sliema.
This is driven by the reported increase of foreign workers in the area who, like the residents of St Julian’s, find it difficult to stick to the rubbish collection schedules when they work night shifts and the long hours that go hand-in-hand with their industries.
Do we smell… sarcasm?
Thanks for clarifying his xenophobia, Jan. Although can you blame the students for stripping to their underwear? We have just had a heatwave. Be nice.
While the fear of anything different is always an understandable one, it is no excuse for petty, passive-aggressive ethnocentrism.
Heed the words of Barack Obama, god damnit. He is the poster child for the fight against xenophobic morons.
By the look of things, we are going to need all the help we can get.
While I’m sure a lot of us might not mind a “man with smooth, sexy abs” the fact still remains that although this act of detriment is rather uncouth, it shouldn’t fall to a matter of assuming race when it comes to finding out who did this.
No one can be deemed an angel if things like this are happening, but again there seems to be in incessant need to shift blame to anyone not of thoroughbred descent.
But at least someone finally called him out for what he was saying. Was it nice? No. But it’s also not as nice to refer to a large stretch of the island, particularly the one most popular amongst tourists, as a “shithole”.
Maybe we should start blaming the authorities?
Yes, the laws surrounding littering and rubbish have been changed up but what is the use of keeping up appearances if nothing is enforced?
Is there maybe a chance we could all take blame as a nation, for allowing this to continue and not do anything about it ourselves?
And we totally agree with you.
Other assumptions quickly followed of who residents thought might be responsible.
Squatting is something not a lot of us are aware of, and the reality is that is most likely happening. Perhaps not necessarily in this case, but there are enough buildings left abandoned around the island to make the claim justifiable.
While one resident reportedly knows of this happening, we cannot assume based on a single recounting that this is definitely what happened here. And again with the race card – whether the person residing in the building is black, white, green or blue should not matter.
We need to understand that all of us are at fault here in one way or another.
When was the last time you walked past an empty can on the floor and turned a blind eye instead of turning around and placing it in the nearest bin? When was the last time you saw someone leaving their bags out on the wrong day and instead of berating them for making a mistake, you chose to spark up a light conversation informing them of the correct schedules?
Sliema residents have recently taken matters into their own hands, and it is a commendable effort, but just how long do we have to wait for the ripple effect to start making more of an impact? The wave of change must keep momentum, before crashing to the shores and dissipating into yet another surge of community care risen only when it benefits an introverted mindset.
The next time you walk past a pastizzi wrapper on the floor, try picking it up and putting it where it belongs.