The General Workers' Union has urged the government to take 'courageous' decisions about the traffic situation, not only because of congestion, but also because of harmful emissions.

In an end of year message, union president Victor Carachi also called for greater efforts for the integration of migrants while adding that the new migration policy should consider circumstances such as Malta's small size and limited resources, to ensure that the public continued to enjoy a good quality of life while doing its humanitarian duty.

Mr Carachi said the union was pleased that the economy had picked up momentum and was doing very well  Much work had been done to increase women's participation in the workforce. Progress had also been made by the government in reducing work under precarious conditions and it was a shame that others had ignored this problem for years but now expected immediate solutions.

Mr Carachi welcomed progress in education, training, the reduction of out-of-stock medicines and hospital waiting lists, although more remained to be done.

The union president said traffic and the bus service remained a challenge for the country. While an efficient bus service could ease the problem, courageous decisions needed to be taken, even if they would not be popular until people got used to them.

This did not mean that investment in the roads should not be made,but the people were being overly pampered and, in the environmental context, prevention was better than cure. Emissions from cars were harmful to health but hardly anything was being done about them. NGOs needed to speak out more so that the people could realise the benefits of cleaner air.

On governance, Mr Carachi said the people wanted a governemnt which acted wisely, honestly and with discipline and transparency. The government appeared to want to raise standards, but there was clearly a need to reform the police to bring it up to the standards expected of a modern , democratic society.