Our islands have one obvious national problem: clutter. When the Knights of St John took over Malta in 1530, our combined islands’ population did not exceed 24,000 people. Maybe far less, a figure approaching 12,000 souls.

Our strategic islands have been in high demand nationally and internationally since 1566, following our victorious Great Siege, and our population has kept growing dramatically and exponentially.

The end result today is a population of about 430,000, including Gozo with some 34,000 people. This makes our islands grossly overpopulated.

But so is Hong Kong, and so is Singapore. And so is the strategic rock of Gibraltar.

Overpopulated areas are characterised by clutter. At the risk of sounding inhuman or un-Christian we may plainly say we have too many people and too few traditional animals like horses, donkeys, mules, cattle, and fowl.

Too little productive agricultural land, which are our environmental lungs, for better breathing and enhanced living standards.

Clutter includes excessive numbers of built-up areas, with not enough natural and traditional spaces. Too many buildings. Too many vehicles – over 300,000 cars. Too much of everything, including garbage.

Except for a balanced, blank breathing space. Blank open spaces are not unproductive at all. They breed less capital investment, and in our days far smaller financial profits.

Too many buildings. Too many vehicles – over 300,000 cars. Too much of everything, including garbage

Yet we need to consider intelligently all its aspects.

Extensive blank areas are featured in Sicily, Italy, Britain, Germany, France and Greece.  Malta and Gozo have lost most of their blank areas. There is little room left where to wander freely and to breathe.

I believe this problem of clutter is now an endemic problem, requiring a difficult and challenging solution or solutions by wise and intelligent leaders and honest politicians.

“Man does not live by bread alone,” Jesus Christ said that. Many believe that He was better and wiser than most of us combined. Pope Francis agrees with him and quotes and emulates Him consistently. Our national leaders have not been as wise.

We are responsible for having committed countless environmental disasters. Thirty years from now, our islands’ population may even reach the astounding figure of 500,000, on just 315 square kilometres. A bizarre prospect.

The number of vehicles goes on burgeoning to no end. Our excessive number of cars breeds gridlock. Vehicular traffic is often at a standstill on our awfully cluttered roads. Malta has probably the densest road network (and probably a bad one) in all of Europe.

Drastic measures are called for now and consistently in the future.

Clutter means accumulating thousands of things that are surplus to our requirements. They are not really needed at all: all these buildings and vehicles, increasing in number by some 3,000 a year.

Swieqi is being transformed for the worse, in my view, due to excessive land speculation, and capital investment. It is becoming more stressful, defeating its image of an organised and formerly laid back and pleasant community.

This is environmental suicide. No less.

It is well known to experienced doctors that the Maltese are under far more stress, and get ill far more than Gozitans, who are lucky in having to live with less clutter on their precious island.

The only uncluttered island in our island group is Comino, with maybe less than 10 settled inhabitants, and four vehicles. The island of Malta is its exact opposite: sizeable and grossly overcrowded.

I humbly feel that a discussion of great proportions is called for to open our eyes to the dire environmental situation.

The present enormous and incorrigible clutter is working to our immediate and long-term detriment.

Maybe we need to open our eyes and hearts, and become wiser as early as nationally possible.

Bernard Vassallo is a linguist and author in decoding and archaeology.