The latest survey published by Eurostat, the statistical body that measures various aspects of the economy and human well-being of the EU member states, shows Malta has the highest proportion of people who consider they live in a polluted environment and about 16,000 people who said they were living in overcrowded housing.
Almost 40 per cent of Maltese respondents to the survey considered their houses were located in a polluted area, especially when taking account of passing traffic. This is the highest rate in the EU where, on average, 16.5 per cent of people felt they lived in an unhealthy environment.
Noise pollution is also considered to be a big problem in Malta.
As to living in overcrowded conditions – defined by Eurostat as living in a household which does not consist of one room per individual – four per cent of Maltese felt they did not have enough living space. While Malta’s figure is relatively high, the situation across the EU as a whole is far worse, with, on average, about one in 10 of the EU population considering they lived in substandard housing.
Statistical surveys of this nature are instructive for what they tell us about the way we live. That we live cheek by jowl in a densely overcrowded country is obvious. Just under half of us live in semi-detached accommodation, while almost 45 per cent live in a flat, leaving only six per cent in detached properties (a far cry from the 34 per cent average for the rest of Europe). But, on the whole, our accommodation – certainly our older houses – tend to be more spacious than those found elsewhere. And, indeed, the fact that this survey found that only four per cent of the population lived in overcrowded homes serves to underline this point.
But the figures also expose why environmental pollution is such an issue. As successive reports have shown – including the comprehensive report by the independent think tank, the Today Public Policy Institute, some 18 months ago – we are poisoning our lungs to the detriment of our health and quality of life, a conclusion the Eurostat survey amply confirms.
Air pollution continues to exceed the EU’s Air Quality Framework Directive. Nitrogen dioxide, emitted by both petrol and diesel vehicles, has increased in concentration. Benzene, a cancer-producing substance emitted from petrol-powered cars, exceeds acceptable levels in the populated areas of Sliema, Floriana, Birkirkara and Ħamrun.
Other excessive pollution has been recorded in particulate matter emissions, a major pollutant and health hazard that is formed from fine dust particles caused in the main by the construction and quarrying industry and also by diesel-powered vehicles.
The environment consists of the physical surroundings: the air we breathe, the water we drink, the building space we inhabit, the noise to which we are subjected, the sea around us and the nature and biodiversity that should coexist with us.
What the Eurostat survey clearly indicates is that the Maltese perception of the environment – most especially the pollution of its environment – is a matter for serious concern. Those organisations, like Din l-Art Ħelwa and Nature Trust, which have fought so long to improve the situation, know this. The promises of politicians, like those given by the Prime Minister to reduce what he called the environmental deficit, now urgently need to be kept if these concerns are to be allayed. Failing that, the government may well pay the price at the polls.