It is a tough climb to ensure our natural environment is protected. On the one hand, we must look at the long term, viewing the environmental picture through a wide-angle lens. Yet, everyone is naturally also eager to see short-term, immediate results.
My recent move from the non-governmental to the governmental sector is a shift in gear but the road is still the same one. The shift gives me more tools to work with, coupled with a great deal more responsibility.
Never has it been clearer to me we are all in this together. The regulators, the operators, the lobbyists and the public all play a central role in the aim to achieve a cleaner, sustainable and more beautiful country for us to live in.
There is no doubt that many established practices and habits must change if the community is to achieve its environmental goals. Just look at one of the many issues we all face – the emissions from vehicular traffic. In other words, the exhaust fumes generated by all those cars, buses, lorries, vans and trucks pounding along the tarmac everywhere.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has four monitoring stations set up to measure air quality in different types of sites around the island. The air pollution in some of our most traffic congested areas is considerable. The results are constantly uploaded on the Mepa website and are there for everyone to see. Road traffic is one of the chief contributors to air pollution in Malta.
The engines of new vehicles are cleaner than old ones. The cars on Maltese roads are about 15 years old on average, which is high by the standards of developed countries. Are people willing and able to change their cars or vans to address this? Are they willing to switch to smaller, more efficient vehicles? Maybe but probably not enough in the short term.
One bit of good news is that we will soon have a new fleet of buses once the public transport reform takes place later this year. Having said that, I recently spent an afternoon with a foreign visitor who seemed disappointed at the thought of losing the old Maltese buses. They have become part of the Maltese “character”, to the point that they feature on fridge magnets, key chains and all kinds of souvenirs.
Yet, the charm of the old bus fades when considering our urgent need to have a more efficient and cleaner bus service. I hope some of the old models will be preserved as vintage buses but, by and large, we will be better off with new buses on our roads. It is hardly a solution to the overall problem but it is a valid step nonetheless.
Parking requirements are part of the traffic problem and are becoming increasingly acute and difficult to manage, as well as being a regular source of complaints from residents. At times, this can be a double-edged sword. People complain when traffic increases in their area of work or residence, yet others complain about attempts to decrease traffic in the historic streets of Valletta.
Both positions have merit and can be argued persuasively. On the one hand, we want to enable social progress, yet avoid the increase in traffic that new projects often generate. On the other hand, we want to reduce vehicle emissions but avoid a negative impact on mobility and social or economic needs.
These issues have been discussed time and again, as for example in Mepa’s Air Quality Plan published last year. Proposed measures include changes to traffic patterns to ease congestion in certain areas and promoting cleaner vehicle technologies – both of which are at the heart of the public transport reform.
The plan also encourages the diversion of heavy duty vehicles away from town centres, the introduction of more pedestrian zones, incentives for more fuel efficient vehicles and improving the infrastructure to encourage bicycle usage, among many other proposals. Only last week, Mepa approved plans for the extension of the park and ride facility in Floriana.
Traffic is, of course, not the only source of air pollution but it is a big player and hard to solve. It puts pressure on our environment and must undoubtedly remain a main focus for improvements over the years to come.
Dr Bianchi is director for environment protection at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.