The latest controversy to hit this rock is the gridlock we are all experiencing daily. A drop of rain and nothing moves. Once school starts, so many parents drive their children to school that our roads cannot cope. The situation is untenable and a solution must be found.
We Maltese always politicise a problem. The opposition point their fingers at the present lot as if traffic moved smoothly three years ago. Hapless Minister Mizzi inherited a failure from the previous Minister who presided over a very expensive change in public transport heralded to be the best thing since Moses divided the sea. That public transport system was a failure but what else would you expect from somebody who had no experience of running a public transport service other than to claim that he had a fetish for buses!
The present government proposed solutions that are not suited to Malta – neither a bridge to Gozo, nor an underground system or even a monorail are feasible, still less affordable, as they are Mass Transit Systems but in this small country we lack the MASS. These are not my words these are the words of a Transport System expert who was commissioned by the Public Transport Authority in the early 1990s when the underground was first proposed by yet another developer.
The main problem is the Maltese public’s love affair with their cars. In September 2014 there were 329,053 cars on the road, increasing by 28 cars every day. No wonder we are in gridlock. Matters are made worse by the large number of foreign cars (mostly Italian and Libyan) which are only allowed on our roads for 6 months, after which they are supposed to pay local tax and change to Maltese number plates; however they are unregulated, enjoying the freedom of our roads with impunity and belching dangerous pollutants into the air we breathe.
Equally important is the fact that many of us do not walk as people walk in other countries ; more harbour ferries will only relieve the congestion if people walked to them rather than driving and expecting to find a parking space nearby.
Much has been written about the frustration and inconvenience caused by our gridlocked system but the dangerous levels of pollution must receive equal attention because it is contributing to the early death of many of our citizens as well as costing Malta 274 m Euros per annum. The fine particulates and the nitrous oxide generated by diesel engines contribute to respiratory and heart disease, cancer and dementia. Far from being a sign of “progress” this negative effect on the health of our population must be given urgent priority by our government which is responsible for our health and not just for grandiose pre-election Pharaonic projects.
Proposals:
The government’s first priority needs be a study aimed at showing the public the real cost of every car trip we take and comparing that to the cost of using public transport.
Secondly, MEPA must take the measurement of pollution levels seriously. Is it true that the pollution measuring tube in St. Anne’s Street in Floriana is no longer there? This is MEPA’s moral and legal responsibility. It would be interesting to see some transparency from MEPA on this matter and advise the public as to the real situation.
Flawed VRT monitoring is allowing many sub-standard cars onto our roads; the system must be rigidly scrutinised to ensure that such cars are taken off the roads. For years evidence that VRT station operators are breaking monitoring regulations has been ignored.
Similarly the importation of second-hand cars which do not comply with the requirements of new imported vehicles makes a mockery of European emission regulations and must stop. Moreover, the importation of old, often scrapped engines to re-engine old trucks is a chargeable offence due to the unimaginable pollution they emit – a danger to public health which the authorities are duty bound to protect despite the possible threat to their votes.
Transport systems must change but instead of proposing impractical grandiose plans like drilling metro systems which will grind to a halt every time archaeology is found, we need smaller workable solutions. People don’t use public transport because it takes so long to arrive and may be distant from their homes or places of work. So one solution would be to provide a fleet of electric mini-vans that run more frequently, covering a greater network of routes. This should form part of this country’s contribution towards the public transport system.
Many parents choose to drive their children to school because of the high cost of school transport. The recent proposal to subsidise school transport made sense and should be implemented, however where distances are short, children should walk to school as they do in other parts of the world. It will also be a healthy change and possibly reduce Malta’s dubious record of having the highest rate of childhood obesity.
The traffic situation in Malta has developed over the years, mostly due to incompetent planning and, worse still, due to politicians who continue to meddle in everything to suit their 5 year term. For example it is taboo to mention that parking in main centres should be paid for, even though it would lead to a decrease in the number of cars in these centres. I do not think that there is any other country in the world where parking on public roads is free.
We cannot go on with the present situation which is untenable. Some courageous steps need to be taken. They may not be popular in the short term, however they will give the required results.
941 Words 14.10.2015
Ing Paul Cardona,
Chairman,
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar