A study by the World Health Organisation has concluded that air pollution in Malta leads to the death of about 230 people each year and costs the Maltese economy an annual €550 million (over five per cent of GDP) in consequent disease and death.

Air pollution is linked to cancers as well as heart and respiratory diseases. It affects the built heritage and animal and plant health. It is a silent killer that strikes both humans and the larger ecological systems.

Labour’s manifesto had promised that improvement to air quality would be a top priority. It promised regular monitoring of air quality and the introduction of a transport strategy encouraging the use of more electric cars. But like many manifesto promises, this is one, which, two years after the election, has hardly got off the ground. Indeed, matters have probably got worse.

Public, commercial and private transport are the major causes of air pollution. The pollutants generated by vehicles occur at street level and pose a major public health hazard. The crux of the problem in curbing air pollution lies in tackling Malta’s ever-growing transport monster.

The actions the government takes to do so will inevitably mean targeting the private and commercial motorist through discouraging private car use and encouraging public transport or cleaner means of zero carbon emissions transport.

The government’s quandary is twofold.

First, any action it takes to rein back private car use will be unpopular.

Secondly, the encouragement of sources of cleaner transport will require a major degree of fiscal investment.

There are a number of areas where action needs urgently to be set in hand by the Minister for Transport. Every effort must be made to reduce dependence on private cars by massively improving the quality and convenience of public transport. The government should encourage greater use of public transport by all the fiscal, customer service and media means possible. There is also a vital need to make radical improvements to day-to-day traffic management and school transport.

In parallel, options for introducing other types of public transport, such as underground railways, trams or trolley buses ,should be actively pursued to promote a greater mix in mass public transport systems.

The shift to more fuel-efficient, low emission vehicles should be encouraged through further targeted tax measures that penalise high emission gas-guzzlers and encourage zero-emission vehicles. Businesses should be actively encouraged to switch to more fuel-efficient electrical delivery vehicles through tax concessions.

The air pollution caused by old heavy goods vehicles should be specifically targeted by penalising polluters and offering a scrappage scheme aimed at removing them from the roads within two years.

The feasibility of imposing a car-sharing scheme for entry into Valletta should be examined. The expansion of water transport in the harbour areas should be exploited by extending services to provide more pick-up points and more frequent and extended hours of operation.

Finally, law enforcement should be rigorously applied through a properly coordinated action plan by the police, Transport Malta and the warden service. A strict and punitive regime of random roadside emissions testing should be introduced.

A comprehensive action plan to curb pollution by changing driver’s mindset and punishing those who are the major cause of the problem is now urgently overdue if Malta is not to continue being choked in its own car fumes and paying such a high cost in death, disease and environmental pollution.

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