The local council elections are not going to coincide with the general election, hence, I want to encourage all Iklin residents to go out and vote in the March elections to give a clear signal that a new Iklin council should endeavour to better the lives of all residents without any distinction.

I have been residing at Iklin for over 30 years and I cannot remember any period of this village, which is mostly situated in a valley, with so much pollution as it has today. An enormous amount of traffic is being allowed to enter the village core because of a lack of proper traffic management.

This is highly detrimental to the health of all the residents. The local council’s main objective on paper is the safeguarding of the environment. Traffic using the Birkirkara bypass should be encouraged to continue using this bypass through measures taken by Transport Malta to eliminate the bottleneck, which is resulting at the Lija roundabout. Transport Malta has enough expertise to solve this problem once and for all without any further delay to the benefit of motorists and to the benefit of our residents at Iklin.

This is not the only environmental problem that is not being tackled by the present council. The physical infrastructure, that is, the roads and pavements are in a deplorable state. It is definitely beneficial that funds were obtained from the European Union to restore rubble walls but the state of the majority of pavements is highly dangerous especially for the elderly.

Iklin needs an open space big enough to be transformed into a family recreational park, where all the residents can meet and relax in a safe and healthy environment. The only open space in front of the shopping arcade, which is already very small, is not adequate for such a purpose.

The multi-purpose pitch, which was promised more than four years ago, is still on the drawing board. I hope that when this project is completed it would cater for the various sports disciplines, like football, netball, basketball, tennis and bowling.

I urge whoever is not happy with the present council to use his vote correctly and not to waste his time grumbling but to act accordingly and make sure that a new council works to ameliorate their lives environmentally, infrastructurally and socially.