Minister for Education and Employment Owen Bonnici together with Żurrieq Mayor Rita Grima, Foundation for Educational Services officials, LESA officials, and Commissioner for Animal Welfare officials launched the campaign ‘Clean It Up’, which is also the result of an initiative organised by the Żurrieq Local Council.
The campaign aims to raise awareness on multiple themes associated with the need to educate people from a young age on the responsibility to keep the streets clean.
Awareness includes talks about how to keep streets tidy and to clean when dogs are taken out and the need for the owner of the dog to keep a dog bag with him or her to clean up after the dog. Apart from the lack of cleanliness in village streets, this type of litter also has a negative impact on the environment.
Minister Owen Bonnici explained, “An educational campaign was always on my mind in regard to this subject as this is a problem that almost every village or town faces at some point or another. This is the purpose for our meeting today and after discussions that were made with LESA and the Office of the Commissioner for Animal Welfare together with the Żurrieq Local Council, we are launching this campaign. I feel optimistic that through this campaign we are going to raise awareness about the sense of responsibility one must have in order to maintain cleanliness and beauty in our villages even by simply cleaning up after our dogs. With the help of educational programmes of this sort, we are nurturing awareness about this issue in our children and future generations”.
Żurrieq Mayor Rita Grima said that, “One of the problems that I faced when I was first elected mayor of Żurrieq, was the dog waste left in the streets because of irresponsible owners. I am the owner of a small, adorable dog that I love very much so I understand that these pets need to do their business when they are taken for a walk outside. When I take my dog out, I make sure that I take my dog bags with me so that I’m prepared. I do this because I want to see clean streets and because I would not like it if I found dog waste on my doorstep. I urge everyone to do their best so that we keep our village clean. With everyone’s cooperation, I believe that we can achieve this”.
This campaign aims to raise awareness so that we will see a cleaner and more beautiful Malta.
