The annual Air Quality in Europe report by the European Environmental Agency has noted that premature deaths related to air pollution in Malta are on the rise. Heart disease and stroke are among the most common causes of death linked to air pollution, followed by lung disease and cancer.

EEA executive director Hans Bruyninckx noted that, throughout Europe, air pollution is “an invisible killer and we need to step up our efforts to address the causes”. Road transport remains one of the main sources of harmful emissions, together with energy generation.  

This also applies to Malta. It is up to the government to prioritise finding solutions to this problem without delay.

Besides harmful air emissions from road transport, marine traffic is another worrying source. Ships tend to run on fuel with relatively high sulphur content and little filtration. This newspaper had reported that ships sailing or bunkering just off Malta generated more toxic emissions than the equivalent of 30 Marsa power stations. Another study showed that cruise ships in the Grand Harbour contributed to toxin levels 10 times higher than the island’s most congested roads.

Air pollution from ships in the Mediterranean is difficult for Malta to control without cooperation from other countries, and international agreements to use cleaner fuel are hard to achieve. But we do not depend on others to solve our road traffic problem. As Buryninckx pointed out, “road transport emissions are often more harmful than those from other sources as these happen at ground level and tend to occur in cities, close to people”.

The number of private vehicles on the roads needs to be controlled and public transport improved. Yet the number of cars on the road is constantly increasing and the government’s main effort is on building bigger and better roads to accommodate them. A plan of €700 million over seven years is being implemented, to upgrade the road infrastructure throughout Malta and Gozo.

Road improvements have improved traffic circulation in certain hotspots. But while this solves inconveniences in the short term, it does not address the underlying problems in the longer term. Good roads are welcome but we will end up in gridlock anyway, with the resultant increases in air pollution, if the total number of vehicles continues to grow. A road tunnel to Gozo is likely to export the traffic problem across the channel too.

The widening of roads also causes the loss of open spaces and precious mature trees, which is another sore point. And to sustain all these polluting vehicles, controversial permits for new, large petrol stations in the countryside are being granted, destroying open spaces and encouraging more cars at the same time.

The huge quantity of construction currently going on also exacerbates the traffic problem. More houses and buildings result in more cars. Larger projects are often required to present ‘green transport plans’ but these tend to be ineffective and are quickly forgotten.

Radical thinking on mass public transport is called for, but the national Budget for next year makes no mention of improvements in this area other than the granting of free bus passes to youths between 16 and 20 years old. This is hardly enough, yet it is a good measure and could perhaps be extended to other groups as well.

Other incentives and schemes in the Budget focus on bicycles, electric and hybrid cars, the scrapping of old vehicles, and the conversion of cars to run on gas instead of petrol. But none of these have had a significant impact on reduction in traffic. The safety of bicycle use on our congested roads is of concern, and lanes for cyclists are barely taken into consideration during the carrying out of road works.

Free school transport is being provided for children, which might reduce the number of cars on the road every day. Yet the construction of new schools outside the urban areas has created a heavy dependence on school transport in the first place. On the other hand, the recent State of the Environment Report (2009-15), issued by the Malta Environment and Resources Authority, states that students in classrooms facing busy roads show a higher rate of respiratory conditions. It recommends that playgrounds should be kept away from traffic-congested areas. One of the worst offenders here must be the skatepark used by youths, right in the centre of the roundabout outside the University of Malta.

Today there is no real disincentive to using private vehicles on Maltese roads, other than perhaps being stuck in a traffic jam or not being able to park easily. Both of these hindrances are being addressed, through better roads and plans for the provision of more parking spaces, which only further encourages the use of personal cars. The introduction of disincentives like congestion fees, as applied in other countries, is resisted.

One of the main sources of air pollution in Malta is road traffic. We must address the root causes of this problem, not just paper over the cracks.

This is a Times of Malta print editorial

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