Residents complain about poor air quality

The Sliema Residents’ Association has expressed concern over poor air quality in the locality.

It said the town had high particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and benzene levels, which often exceeded acceptable levels as set out by EU directives.

It added that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s air monitoring technology, used in most localities, did not give real-time air monitoring results, which meant no action was being taken to mitigate high pollution levels.

It doubted Mepa and Transport Malta’s abilities to meet targets and timeframes as set out in the January 2010 Air Quality Plan. The plan outlines traffic measures aimed at achieving a reduction in vehicle emissions, a reduction of the impact of development projects on traffic, managing the road network and promoting cleaner vehicle technologies.

The association said it had not seen any tangible measures aimed at improving Sliema’s traffic problems implemented so far and air pollution levels still exceeded acceptable EU levels.

It suggested that real-time air quality analysers be put in place to keep better tabs on “deteriorating” air quality in the area. It urged Mepa, Transport Malta and the Sliema local council to act to “safeguard Sliema residents’ health and quality of life”.

Earlier this month, Mepa rebutted claims by three NGOs that its air pollution monitoring stations were “placed incorrectly”, giving wrong readings.

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth and the Ramblers’ Association claimed that the disparity between evident pollution and Mepa’s “allegedly favourable” air quality monitoring results was because the air monitoring stations were located incorrectly, were not providing data on the real situation or were not functioning properly.

Mepa said it carried out air quality monitoring through a diffusion tube network, introduced in 2004, to have better spatial coverage over the island. It includes 44 localities and 131 monitoring sites in Malta and Gozo.

The authority rejected claims NGOs had made that it was “taking the easy way out” by convincing the EU that almost half of the 52 occasions when Malta exceeded EU limits of particulate matter in the air were due to natural causes, such as dust from the Sahara desert and sea spray.

A recent Mepa survey of public attitudes showed that 43 per cent of respondents considered air quality to be the most worrying environmental problem, 83 per cent said air pollution was affecting their health and 89 per cent agreed with measures to cut vehicle emissions.