11 comments so far.18 people with help of 4 dogs & 2 donkeys collect 22 bags of rubbish
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Sunday was another good day for the ‘Gozo-Rocks Clean & Green Hike!’ Organiser, Louis Debattista of the Gozo Greyhounds, said that although it was very windy, the sun was shining when they left from Qala local council at 1.00pm, which got them off to a good start.
“The strong wind made it tough to walk with recycling bags in some areas, but that did not stop us. Our group was a little smaller for Sunday’s hike, (12 kids, 6 adults, 4 dogs and 2 donkeys!) However, it was international! English, Germans, Americans and Gozitans all working together. We collected 22 bags of rubbish from along the road to Kunczjoni, Ta Muxi, and down Ta Simar by the water and back to Qala.”
Louis stated, “people need to stop trashing Gozo! The area we walked by on Muxi Road had places where people had dumped furniture, a small refrigerator, tiles, rubbish, metal, wood and mattress springs.”
“There needs to be enforcement by MEPA or the Government to put a stop to this: give violators NOTES with 30 days to clean up the mess and if they don’t comply, FINE them until they clean up. The dumping is really a problem,” Louis said.
He addded that “local councils (at least in Qala), offer bulk pick-up of large items twice a week from designated drop-off areas, so there’s no excuse for dumping. People may say that they didn’t dump the rubbish that is on their land, that someone else did it- but the fact is that we didn’t dump it either and we are picking up the rubbish anyway. Also, a note to hunters: please pick up your shells. I picked up over 50 yesterday.”
Louis asked, “I care, do you? I am doing something, are you? I encourage everyone to join in: get some exercise, meet new people and help reveal the natural beauty of Gozo. Stop talking about it and take action instead”
“It would great if schools would get involved and encourage their students and the parents to participate in the Sunday hikes; we leave from Qala Local Council every Sunday at 1.00pm, weather permitting.”
Louis thanked the Qala Local Council for providing them with the materials (gloves, bags, wipes).
“We have about 15 kids from Qala Primary School, two from Xaghra, one from the Seminary, two from the Girls’ Secondary School, and one from the Bishop’s Conservatory in Victoria, who all participate regularly. We can make a change and we need to do it.” Louis concluded.
For further information please contact Louis through the Gozo-Greyhounds facebook page, or email him on louismalti@aol.com.
Can this Nature club Gozo Greyhounds explain why they took two donkeys with them ?
I am informed that while you did a great job cleaning rubbish from those roads the donkeys left excrement after them not only in rural areas but also in inhabited streets.
Mario, it is much easier to criticize others instead of doing something good. We are actually a running club but we want to help Gozo be a better place to live. We also hike together and last year while hiking we were blown away by how much trash we saw along the paths, so I decided to start Gozo Rocks! Clean & Green Hikes to start off 2014. The donkeys started on the road where they live and walked down to the Ta Simar and back, carrying bags up that steep hill- which was nice because there was such a strong head wind on Sunday. Thank you for your support Gozo. Every Sunday we are Hiking, starting from Qala local council at 1pm to places along the coast to see if we can make Gozo cleaner and more beautiful in 2014.
Can this Nature club Gozo Greyhounds explain why they took two donkeys with them ?
I am informed that while you did a great job cleaning rubbish from those roads the donkeys left excrement after them not only in rural areas but also in inhabited streets.
Isn’t that funny Peter. You are ‘Mario’ made exactly the same comment word for word. So now we know that Mario and Peter are the same person writing under different names. Isn’t that interesting?
Its the cars people over there should get rid of, not the donkeys. What is happening to Malta and Gozo? It has become so modernized in a bad way that you can’t even recognise it anymore. Take a good look at Italy. It had managed to preserve its beauty and its traditions.
Mario and Peter your comments are rude or you just plain ignorant with the nature of animals and/or basically just plain lies. Donkeys did not leave shit behind them, actually they helped in the clean up by carrying bags up the hill. The nature of donkeys is to do their excrement business in a secured area and not on the street or hard surface where it splashes back at them. Please join us for the next walk and I think you will grow to like the donkeys. They are very sweet and funny.
David, Peter and Mario are the same person and obviously whoever he is he has some sort of agenda to stir things up. What the Gozo Greyhounds are doing is great and they shouldn’t be put off by this sad person whoever they are.
I repeat. Take a good look at Italy. It has preserved its beauty and its traditions. The charm of old traditions are preserved and not done away with.
I do not understand what the reference to Italy has to do with this discussion and there are many parts of Italy, which have failed to preserve its charm just as many other countries have failed to. I also do not understand what the comments about donkey excrement has to do with anything. I wonder if Mario/Peter has a dog which along with others defecate where they will with no attempt by an owner to clean it up?
What I do understand is that Gozo Greyhounds are doing a wonderful job and I applaud them for that. Gozo is a beautiful island and any efforts to combat the laziness of people who discard their rubbish is good fro the island, the environment and its people.
All i can say is that these volunteers are doing a fine job and the people complaining should not look a gift horse in the mouth. short & sweet . they are not getting paid for it and are only improving the beauty of Gozo before some careless morons chucked their unwanted rubbish all over the countryside.
Great effort! Great initiative to organize what is in every Gozitan’s (plus every tourist’s) interest. Hope you will be getting even more support – by people and officials – as you continue the project.
And you know how sometimes in your home you might get used to the one or other stain or little defect. And after a while you don’t notice it anymore. It’s the same with the landscape around us, we have to learn to be bothered by all the waste again. We are to often told by visitors what we don’t see ourselves anymore. Thanks for showing us.
Monica