Paul M. Cassar was right in what he said in a recent issue of The Times regarding the acute parking problem in Victoria. As an ex-mayor of Victoria he is very much aware of the current situation since he was very involved in the planning of the much-needed ring road around Victoria.
His proposals for a solution were and are very practical - that of putting a two storey dismountable site at the present parking site. Let us hope that with the full collaboration of the Ministry for Gozo, the central government and the local council something would materialise in the near future.
Parallel to the above problem lies that of the amount of traffic that enters daily from early sunrise till late at night. A solution should be found to try and reduce the number of vehicles that jam the main streets of Victoria all year round. But above all, it is the heavy trucks and other heavy machinery that are really the greatest nuisance, making living in Republic Street a nightmare.
It is really embarrassing to witness these giant vehicles belching black smoke and creating incredible sound pollution as they pass right through Victoria's main thoroughfare which is usually crowded with tourists. It is unimaginable to witness anything similar in any other European capital.
The amount of pollution emitted from these construction trucks or similar heavy vehicles must certainly go beyond any permissible level, especially in the EU. If Fgura has one of the highest rates of hospitalisation for lung problems, Victoria should not be very far behind. Ivan Camilleri recently reported from Brussels that the main culprit for the low air quality in Malta is the construction industry, besides having 1,275 vehicles per square km.
Immediate steps must therefore be taken to stop this amount of traffic and especially large construction vehicles from passing through the heart of Gozo. There is an urgent need for a ring-road around Victoria which would enable traffic to bypass the historic centre - this need has been known for years on end and in fact, there were specific plans for its construction. For some strange reason they have been shelved. It is indeed irresponsible to make the residents of Gozo's main street bear the brunt of uncontrolled traffic. Republic Street residents are being made to suffer from vehicles that render no service whatsoever in the main town but most of the time are on their way to construction or dumping sites. To add insult to injury most trucks leave their debris and construction material uncovered, passing right in front of the police station! Not to mention the frequent bursting of tyres, the damage to private property through endless vibrations caused by the enormous loads being carried and the damage to the road itself, now in dire need of patching.
There must be a combination of public commitment and political will in order to change this very sorry state of affairs that is certainly unacceptable in this day and age, especially now that we are an EU member state.
We have reached a situation when the local council and the central government continuously point fingers at each other when some complaint is raised. It is high time that all interested parties draw up a coherent line of action and a strong stand is taken to rectify the situation.