The Point shopping mall on the Sliema peninsula has brought an air of excitement as it opened its doors to the public. The investors were anxious to get their businesses going, notwithstanding that the surrounding streets were not yet ready to accept visitors in great numbers.

As a result, the neighbourhood is engulfed in dust which is stirred up by this new, additional activity. Dust curtains, which were erected at the initial stages, have long wilted with lack of any maintenance, allowing dust to blow everywhere and settle in the streets.

Since compensation does not appear to exist on this island, those responsible for this pollution are brazenly careless about their obligations, while law enforcers seem to have given up. The least that should be done is for dust curtains to be restored to effectively reduce the problems of dust and ugly aesthetics to a minimum, and where possible to water down the neighbouring streets regularly using inferior quality water. It is impossible not to admire the way huge foreign construction sites are camouflaged to cause the least nuisance. Their people are respected.

Some online correspondents have taken offence at others who said they feel "they're abroad", but the truth is that when you walk out of this new shopping centre you momentarily wonder where you are because the inside and the outside are a stark contradiction. The first is clean, organised and spacious ("like you're abroad"), while the latter is dusty, chaotic and engorged in the shadows of high-rise buildings. Visitors are driving around the neighbourhood in search of a free parking since the mall charges their clients. The odd policemen/women aren't sure what they're supposed to be doing.

Hopefully, the activation of residents' parking will give us some respite. The sooner the better.

Must the price of progress be so high? The point is, I just can't stop sneezing.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.