The quality of the air we breathe has been a matter of concern for a number of years and consequent governments have taken it upon themselves to improve the situation. Some years back, a number of fixed air-monitoring stations were installed in key areas to monitor the air in terms of pollutants and fine matter.

A few months ago this newspaper reported findings of a study entitled ‘Respira’ carried out by Martin Balzan and Michael Pace Bardon from the Department of Medicine at Mater Dei Hospital.

The study showed high levels of soot in the air in Fgura, which is notorious for the high prevalence of respiratory symptoms and heavy traffic. The study aimed to map black carbon levels in the streets of Fgura and Cospicua and to compare them with indoor levels.

The higher predisposition of localities to air pollution resulting from the surrounding industrial activity and traffic leads to higher air pollution levels in the inner and northern harbour areas when compared to rural areas. While this is a matter of grave concern for the towns lying on the fringes of the harbour areas, the small size of our country absolutely bars rural areas from entering into a false sense of security that this problem would not affect them.

We are too small to think that industrial activity in Marsa will not impact the people of Dingli, a few kilometres away. Suffice it to say that volcanic and industrial activity in nearby Sicily somewhat impacts our air, as do the southern winds which bring over Sahara dust from neighbouring Libya.

Subsequent governments have taken this matter seriously, with the previous administration en-couraging the installation of photovoltaic panels and solar water heaters and paving the way for the interconnector project, which was successfully completed under this government’s watch.

Local councillors are close enough to their communities to be aware of the prevalent respiratory conditions there

The Labour government, in turn, consolidated such efforts by closing the Marsa power station and committing itself to closing the Delimara plant, which runs on heavy fuel oil, and commissioning a new gas-fired plant.

In this year’s budget, the government introduced a measure to encourage the use of 125cc motorcycles and carried on with the Eco Gozo initiative, as well as scrappage schemes for older vehicles in favour of new vehicles that pollute less. I firmly believe that local councils can complement these national initiatives. Councils have a very valid contribution in this area, as they are well versed in the particular situations faced by their communities and the challenges posed by air pollution.

I am sure that local councillors are close enough to their communities to be aware of the prevalent respiratory conditions there, even though not in a scientific manner. They are fully aware of which initiatives might benefit their communities. Therefore, local councils are in a position to propose initiatives that may benefit directly the communities which they represent. It was this belief that spurred this government to new EU-funded initiatives for the benefit of local councils aimed at reducing emissions and air pollution.

A pre-announcement will be issued on April 24 for interested councils to submit proposals on projects which fall under the eligibility criteria of the call. The call will close at the end of May, after which an evaluation process will ensue so that the successful councils will be invited to submit their official proposals in September.

Councils may decide to work with NGOs or in clusters, even on a regional level in order to propose projects which fall within the scope of these funds. Such projects might involve the installation of PV panels on buildings which fall within the remit of councils, or schemes for the benefit of residents.

The Parliamentary Secretariat for Local Government has organised two information sessions for local councils, both in Malta and Gozo.

We addressed the concerns and ideas put forward by mayors, councillors and executive secretaries, who all seemed to be in favour of this initiative but voiced their concerns on technical points which, I believe, can be surmounted with goodwill from all the parties concerned.

I am sure that the councils will be coming up with creative proposals that will complement the national policies adopted by the government to curb emissions for the benefit of their communities.

I cannot but strengthen my resolve to promote these initiatives that will ensure a better quality of air for ourselves and future generations. It is time for us to act at the local level, so let us pull up our socks and do our part to improve the quality of the air that we breathe.

Stefan Buontempo is Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government.