I imagine that one of the topics at the last Cabinet meeting touched on how the public can be shown that the government is not tired and bereft of ideas.
The ministers know that people are thoroughly fed up with the quality of life here when it comes to fresh air, noise, the roads and anarchic behaviour.
However, a lack of real local challenge is not conducive to dynamism. Although the Opposition is trying to keep up appearances, it is going to take some time before the Nationalists can truly see the Labour Party as a threat.
That is fatal, because that kind of atmosphere breeds complacency, and it is thanks to public pressure that ministers (the brighter ones) are aware of this and know that they have to at least try to put across an air of energy and commitment.
What better way to do that than to grab the headlines riding on a public seminar or conference? So last week we got Austin Gatt, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications, telling us the obvious, through the annual meeting of the Association of European Vehicle and Driver Registration Authorities.
It was “high time that we faced up to an alternative means of transport”, he said and “transport must be a contributor, not a burden, to our quality of life: the quality of the air we breathe cannot be the price for the quality of our trip to work and back.” Indeed!
The minister then said that we “all” must work on securing a shift from private transport to group transport such as buses of various sizes on route or chartered basis, small and large taxis, bicycles, boats and car sharing.
Great rhetoric. But where is the stoffa (substance)? Sure we “all” need to change our attitudes and habits, but it is the government that has the authority and means to make the major changes needed to bring about the needed shift.
How is the minister going to get round the powerful car retail lobby? He could at least put heavy levies on SUVs, for starters. How many use those vehicles for sport anyway?
And what is the Minister going to do about the buses, our main form of public transport, which are the worst offenders for fouling the air?
Pleasant vistas – like the harbours and the bastions along the Strand to Ta’ Xbiex and Pieta, then the pinetum from there to Porte de Bombes – and getting rid of the fumes from the buses, would encourage people to walk and cycle to Valletta. Is the minister going to provide bicycle lanes and places to park bicycles?
Then of course there is still the lack of acceptable behaviour, especially for a public service provider, by some of the bus drivers to encourage more people to use the service.
The minister’s cherry on the cake, however, was “Malta’s roads will need to be brought up to European-class which translates into safe, reliable and good quality”. Wow, if Austin can achieve that he deserves to be the next Prime Minister.
But, none of this is really news! It is indeed high time that something is done about it. But are we just getting hot air, or shall we be seeing something really worth a headline in the near future?
Then we had Dr Joe Cassar, Parliamentary Secretary for Health, riding on an event, marking World Asthma Day, on Tuesday, blaming air quality and life style for more and more people suffering from disease.
We have had this message from doctors at countless seminars and conferences over the years. To its credit, the government scored highly on banning smoking from public places. We were one of the first countries to enact legislation to rid us of the dreadful weed.
But there is still room for improvement. We have seen too many complaints about bars and clubs breaking the rules with no comeback.
Another problem is that – because people who work in shops and customers in cafes cannot smoke inside the premises – they tend to clog and fug the entrances to them.
Credit is however due to whoever got moving on access on pavements in café congested areas.

Tad too far
While on the subject of access, I do admire the Ramblers Association of Malta (RAM) for fighting for the public’s right to access to our countryside. But I think it has gone a tad too far this time, and is showing fascist tendencies.
I have no sympathy for the Armier squatters and I think they should go. Of course MEPA should enforce the law and it is incredible that utility companies are supplying energy to the Armier eyesore, “the largest single area in the Maltese islands where illegal development has been carried out on a massive scale”, according to Minister George Pullicino, who did nothing about it while Minister of the Environment.
And it seems that despite the Prime Minister’s taking over that portfolio, things have not changed, since, apparently, deals were made before the election. Hints of the hunters’ saga? How come these squatters have so much clout?
However, having said all that, RAM’s calling on the Church to forbid priests from conducting religious services at these dwellings is as outrageous as the squatters’ cheek.
It is not that RAM is not right in pointing out the Church’s inconsistencies, but despotic attitudes do not sit well with an organisation that is meant to have philanthropic aims.
Like many who let a little power go to their heads, RAM is running the risk of getting too big for its boots.

Noise
Every so often I receive emails from people who ask me to keep up my crusade against noise pollution. The latest came from an Qormi resident who is being driven crazy by souped-up vehicles, ineffective silencers, loud discos-on-wheels, breakneck speed driving and more.
He has written to his local council with a long list of solutions and has pledged to pursue the matter with the ADT, the Police Commissioner and our MEPs if he does not get a reaction from the council.
He claims that the area he lives in seems to be above the law since the 35 kph legal speed limit is not only not adhered to, but motorists also produce screeching noises from their tyres, “all in a bid to show machismo”.
Besides, trucks with ineffective silencers, belching thick smoke and spraying dust from whatever they happen to be carrying, “choking us and disturbing our peace”, use the thoroughfare regularly, including Sundays and public holidays, he wrote, adding that there is no sign of any enforcement officers.
Now I am sure that it is not only Qormi residential areas that suffer from this kind of noise and air pollution.
I think that one of the many solutions proffered by the correspondent should definitely be taken up by the ADT and local councils, and that is putting up clear signs to indicate residential streets, which would include barring heavy vehicles using it as a thoroughfare, noise nuisance (horn blowing, loud music, etc.) and the speed limit, plus the fee payable, writ large, when caught breaking the rules.

pamelapacehansen@gmail.com