Dr Stanley Zammit was born on the 4th July 1938. In 1954 he entered the then Royal University of Malta to pursue a course in medicine. During his years at university, Zammit was active in the University Students Representative Council including a number of years as the Council’s Secretary. He graduated in medicine in 1961, following which he worked at Saint Luke’s Hospital as a Junior Doctor. In 1963 Zammit joined the British Royal Army Medical Corps and served as a doctor in the United Kingdom, Germany and Cyprus. Between 1967 and 1968 he was deployed with the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, the ‘blue berets’, in Cyprus. In 1968 Zammit obtained his discharge from the army with the rank of major and later practiced in Malta as a medical doctor (general practitioner). In 1963 Zammit married Emily Carabott and they have five children.

Zammit first contested the Malta General Elections in 1981, on behalf of the Nationalist Party. He was elected a Member of the House of Representatives in 1987 and again in 1992. In 1990 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment within the Ministry for the Interior. In 1992 he was again appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, this time within the Ministry for the Environment, which post he occupied until 1996. In 1997 Zammit returned to his medical profession, also serving for a number of years in various Health Centres.

He was responsible for the first legal notices published under the Environment Protection Act framework; both in relation to the protection of the flora and fauna as well as concerning the abatement of pollution. During his tenure as Parliamentary Secretary, Zammit was behind the creation of the fledgling Environment Protection Department and was instrumental in the establishment of an Administrative Law Enforcement section within the Maltese Police Force to assist in the enforcement of environment related regulations.

Zammit’s mandate as Parliamentary Secretary included also responsibility for the public cleansing function and for all aspects of waste management. He was directly involved in the devolution of municipal waste collection to the then newly established Local Councils and for many important developments which have since come to be taken for granted. These include the first campaign for the separation of waste in households, the first use of bins and skips and the introduction of the first weighbridge at a landfill.

Zammit was always very conscious of the need to raise environmental awareness in general as a precondition to the successful implementation of policy measures. To this end he placed a great emphasis on public information and education initiatives, targeting the public in general and schoolchildren in particular. Particularly successful in this context, was the creation of the character of ‘Xummiemu’ which promoted environmental objectives.

Zammit was also very active in developing a positive and productive dialogue with environment NGOs which even resulted in some projects being launched together. These included the building and management of the Simar nature reserve, the compilation of practical advice for waste reduction and the separation of waste within households and the first ever scheme for the collection of used batteries.