Between the Costa Concordia, the Sliema double murder and Franco Debono, local matters are often forgotten and little or no attention is given to the bread and butter issues of everyday life.

However unlike national ones, local issues persist year after year. One such issue in my locality of Balzan is the poor infrastructure and lack of accessibility. The inadequate pavements and the substandard state of the roads impede mobility and both problems are accentuated by flooding, which is another big concern.

Even though extensive funding is required to solve all these problems, procrastination is not the solution. Local issues are important as well.