​The Cleansing & Maintenance Division collected 116 tons of waste from five localities between October and December 2022, in a pilot project where a sweeping service is being provided in residential streets. This pilot project aims to establish high standards in cleanliness, which must be followed by the contractors hired by the Local Councils.

The service of sweeping in residential streets falls under the responsibility of the Local Councils. However, over the last few years there were several Local Councils that were not satisfied with the cleaning service provided by contractors hired by them. It was the opinion of many, including residents themselves, that such service in various localities was not being done as desired, and with frequencies that complement the demand.

After many internal discussions, the Government embarked on a pilot project with five Local Councils by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with each council concerned. These were chosen based on those who most needed assistance regarding cleaning in residential streets, which are Birkirkara, Valletta, Marsaxlokk, Birzebbuġa and Żurrieq.

Here, the Division for Cleansing and Maintenance assigned a number of workers to each locality concerned, and provided work of sweeping the residential streets and emptying the waste containers among other duties, in different shifts based on the need of the locality. It also provided assistance through its Customer Care Unit.

The aim of this pilot project is for the Cleansing and Maintenance Division to assist in establishing standards in cleanliness that reflect the needs of the localities according to the requirements of each locality.

Definitively, there is no thought of replacing the work of contractors who carry out their work, but there will be interventions where the work is not being done as desired so that the product will always improve. All this will be done in agreement with the Local Council.

This pilot project with the five selected Local Councils seems to have been received very well and continued to confirm that there is a great need for it.

After these six months of trial with these five Local Councils, the situation will be evaluated, and a decision taken whether to extend this collaboration to other Local Councils that are unsatisfied with the standard and service being provided by contractors. This will be done through a Memorandum of Understanding with each Council concerned.​