Sliema residents' ordeal

George Sclivagnotis's contribution (More Flats, Less Parking Space, August 24) highlights again one aspect of the Sliema over-development problem.

Similar to Mr Sclivagnotis's claims, residents living along the Sliema traffic arteries are suffering a worse nightmare as we are constrained to keep all doors and windows of our homes shut, in our attempt to keep out the Sliema dense and continuous traffic noise and emissions, so detrimental to our health and quality of life.

While this precarious state of affairs is well known to all authorities concerned, no tangible solution has yet been forthcoming, with the onus to solve the Sliema traffic problems being bureaucratically passed from one authority to the next as follows:

While Mepa has for long been fully aware of Sliema's over-development situation and the consequential precipitating effect on the precarious Sliema Traffic Problems (STP), it nevertheless continues to issue building permits, including mega projects, waiving the requisite for the reassuring Environmental Impact Assessment, as in the case of the Fort Cambridge project.

Mepa argues that development comes pretty close to the electricity supply, that is, with inherent disadvantages/risks which at best may be addressed with some mitigating measures, and in the case of Sliema, leading one to understand that these resultant traffic problems are to be addressed by other entities such as ADT and the Sliema local council.

ADT on its part admits that it is already extremely difficulty to solve the present STP and is fully aware and preoccupied that further development in Sliema will definitely deteriorate the already precarious traffic situation with all its consequential parking and pollution problems. However, it asserts that the responsibility for commissioning a Traffic Impact Assessment and monitoring air quality rests with Mepa.

Furthermore, ADT laments that, at present, no funds have been allocated by the central government for some promising mitigating measures such as the construction of ring roads (Regional Road to the Gzira Strand and the extension of the Gzira-Sliema Strand), implying that such projects are subject to the whims of political discretion.

Apparently there seems to be significant dissent within the Sliema local council regarding the Sliema over-development problem, and consequently it seems to shy away from taking the bull by the horns, limiting its actions to some mitigating traffic management measures (possibly with the input of ADT), without insisting on the necessary holistic Sliema Environmental Impact Assessment from Mepa.

The central government too seems content selling public land to the highest bidders, cashing millions of Maltese liri, and washing its hands in the Mepa/ADT waters, leaving us Sliema residents to suffer the aftermath of over-development. As a result of this evidently sorry state of affairs as aforesaid, Sliema residents are left in despair, with no alternative other than to move out of Sliema, or seek the European Union Environment Commissioner's intervention as their last defence ditch.

Regrettably, many of us Sliema residents feel let down by the Maltese authorities and live in hope that the European Union Environment Commissioner's intervention succeeds in safeguarding the legitimate interests of us lesser mortals from this predicament.