One of the mantras of the present government is that it gives our environment high priority. What we have in reality is the contrary; a degradation of our surroundings by lucrative unrestrained property development and atmospheric pollution from our heavy traffic, electricity generation and the exclusively diesel-driven construction industry.
Malta remains steadfastly 100 per cent dependent on oil for electricity generation and there has not been one single serious attempt at large-scale energy generation from renewable energy. A proposal for a wind farm at Marfa, which would have made a good start, was turned down on flimsy pretexts of "visual intrusion" which is pure hypocrisy when one considers the forest of cranes that perpetually surround us and the mess the country is in as a result of property development.
It is now general knowledge that diesel emissions are mostly responsible for the cancer risk from air pollutants, but nobody in government seems to care. Our antiquated diesel-driven buses, heavy goods vehicles and many private diesel-driven cars continue to puff out clouds of black diesel smoke; to this is added the general pollution generated by the remainder of our 250,000 cars on the road and the pollution plumes from our power stations. Such air monitoring as has been conducted indicates that the degree of air pollution over much of Malta exceeds permissible levels; this is especially so in densely built-up areas.
The relationship between pollutants from engine exhaust and excess death rates has been confirmed in 90 US cities, 37 European cities and eight Asian cities over the past two decades. At people level in Malta, exposure to current levels of pollution works out like this: If one of your relatives, or anyone you know, died of lung cancer, there is a high probability that it was caused by diesel traffic pollution if he was a non-smoker, especially if he lived or worked in an area of high traffic density. If you reside in an area with heavy traffic density your chances of developing lung cancer are increased by 20 per cent and you and all your family, including your children, have a shorter life expectancy.
It is time the government gave more importance to the serious impact of traffic pollution on the health of the nation and recognises that transport policies are now a key determinant of health. Health has to be included on the transport policy agenda if gains are to be achieved, and the Health Department, which must surely be aware of the immense significance of the scientific data, should play a key role in getting the respective ministries to act.
As things now stand, the government behaves as though it is unaware of the body of scientific evidence associating air pollution, especially that originating from diesel engines fumes and benzene, with cancer and other heart and lung illnesses. Instead of discouraging the use of cars, our environment ministry does exactly the opposite and encourages the unhealthy Maltese obsession with cars by granting permits for yet more petrol stations complete with car washes (which again use a lot of our precious water which also needs lots of energy to produce). This is pure institutionalised insanity.