I would like to bring the public’s attention to the sorry example of planning in Malta which illustrates perfectly why we could be doing so much better, and why we should be doing so much better.

The infamous €55 million Central Link Project has been presented to the public and after some brief scrutiny, a student who uses a bicycle has already been able to rip the project to shreds.

We are not even talking about trees, but about objectively terrible planning. Cyclists will no longer be able to turn into Birkirkara or Balzan according to the current plans for the junction and will instead have to travel much farther towards Rabat instead, before dismounting from their bicycle and crossing a bridge with very sharp and narrow turns to be able to cross the highway. Similarly, the bridge becomes the only way for cyclists to access to cross the road at all, even down as far as Attard. 

Certain cycling infrastructure, according to the current plans, is incomplete, unsafe, funnels cyclists down paths without any possibility of an easy return, and cuts them off from areas like Wied is-Sewda. The token effort to accommodate cyclists has instead raised the spectre of the complete disregard for them, with one of the cycling paths ending abruptly and traffic lights eliminated.

Beyond the design, we return to the fact that any infrastructure project which tries to address Malta’s traffic by widening roads only reveals the government’s panic, as it is a short-term solution at best. Widening roads creates more traffic, leads to more cars and leads us back to where we started. We need to start thinking about alternative transport, and a change in mentality. The same goes for a great range of problems. 

Our ministers only care about the next couple of years, and getting re-elected. Let us start asking for a higher standard in the way our country is run. NGOs and it seems, even students, have a wealth of insight to offer. Instead, it looks like this project is another inside job, allegedly owned by a Labour official. It is time that we sought real expertise for real solutions.