The European Ombudsman has been asked to look into complaints of excessive noise pollution due to traffic and a lack of controls in view of inaction by the local authorities, the Times of Malta has learnt.
John Fenech of the Noise Abatement Society said that the Environment Commissioner within the office of the Ombudsman in Malta had forwarded the society’s complaint to Strasbourg after efforts to obtain a satisfactory reply from the local authorities proved unsuccessful.
Mr Fenech said he had spent nearly two years chasing different government authorities, urging them to transpose EU noise control regulations primarily related to traffic. “I went to Transport Malta, I went to the Environment and Resources Authority and to so many other offices, but I got nowhere,” he said.
Mr Fenech, who has received complaints from dozens of residents across the country, said the matter of noise pollution was a national crisis and one that could not be ignored any longer.
He took the matter to the Ombudsman in Malta, who had found similar obstacles.
“We have a problem when it comes to observing regulations in this country and noise is one of the things that is abused to the detriment of society,” he said.
We have a problem when it comes to observing regulations in this country and noise is one of the things that is abused to the detriment of society.
The European Ombudsman investigates complaints about poor administration by EU institutions or other bodies across the Union. Thus its investigation into the noise traffic situation in Malta will focus primarily on whether EU bodies have failed to ensure regulations are imposed by the Maltese government.
Mr Fenech said the complaints he had received were varied and touched upon a number of issues. However, the complaint communicated to the European Ombudsman was related to lacunae in traffic noise regulations.
The Noise Abatement Society is urging the government to implement two EU regulations relating to traffic noise. One relates to noise limitation measures, and the other calls for noise levels to be measured to ensure they are not impinging on residents’ quality of life.
Mr Fenech said he met then transport minister Joe Mizzi during the last legislature to no avail. “I even hand delivered a letter to him detailing the regulations Malta was obliged to follow, but we did not make any progress,” he continued.
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