Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506906
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 SEPTEMBER 2023 COMMENT The Skinny Malta, shrunk down EDITORIAL Equality from the heart PAGE 2 JOSANNE CASSAR So many ruined lives… all for the love of money PAGE 6 Despite the immense burden on infrastructure and public services, from the roads, to public transport, from the rampant use of electricity and water, to waste, dirt and noise, we hardly ever hear about the mitigation of the effects of mass tourism from the Malta Tourism Authority RALPH CASSAR | PAGE 12 What are we skinning? Wasteserv CEO Richard Bilocca's unorthodox suggestion that we should freeze our organic waste should the odours get too pungent after we'd missed one of the three weekly collection slots. Why are we skinning it? The clue is partly in the title, but perhaps the media - social or otherwise - furore that rose up in the wake of it all is worthier of analysis than anything else. Why do you say that? First of all, Bilocca's suggestion was part of a more wide-ranging answer, but of course the image of organic waste ice-lollied into olfactory inoffensiveness is what sticks in the mind. It's also what sticks in the head- lines. Undoubtedly, and media's role in this can't be discounted. But you can't expect media hous- es to not take mileage out of such a juicy - albeit funky-smell- ing - nugget of visual imagery? You could argue that point, yes... I mean freezing organic garbage just about edges close to 'man bites dog' to be an unavoidable journalistic temptation. It really blew up on social media, though. More than man bites dog, we could be looking at a case of 'chicken and egg'. How do you mean? Did social me- dia respond to the absurd head- line, or was the absurd headline dictated by the tenets of social media discourse? You mean to say that traditional media is now left with little option but to lean into the clickbait? That would be one way of putting it. But surely the indignation isn't all superficial. I mean, Franco Debono even called for Bilocca's resignation. That seems a tad extreme. People consistently refuse to resign for far more egregious offences, and this is barely one. I mean I suppose that, taken in isolation, Bilocca's statement may scan as a version of "let them eat cake", if you squint really hard. I'm tired of squinting. Me too. I am stepping into the light. First light of day. Just in time to meet that (apparently) elusive organic waste collector. Do say: "While the image of 'frozen organic waste' does have an irre- sistible tinge of absurdist comedy to it, Bilocca's suggestion was one proposed solution for those who find it difficult to adhere to the waste collection schedule... and there may even be an undercur- rent of resentment for efforts to minimise the lazy black bag op- tion." Don't say: "I'm fairly certain that the bottom end of my freezer con- tains stuff that should've been waste a long time ago." No. 207 - Suck on that Organic Ice Lolly MICHAEL FALZON Perception is king PAGE 7 SAVIOUR BALZAN Stick a red pepper up their ass PAGE 5 Wasteserv CEO Richard Bilocca