The summer season has brought with it many heated decisions and arguments as well as question marks to the political scene, one being Zonqor Point and the famous American University of Malta.
I am all in favour of having another university in Malta as I strongly believe that education is key. However, this decision and the end result have given rise to many concerns.
Malta saw the largest environmental protest ever taking place in Valletta, where many people from both political scenes expressed their opposition to the American University of Malta being built at Zonqor Point.
Despite all the opinions being voiced by NGOs, environmentalists and the general public, the government still went ahead and will build part of the American University on Zonqor Point. Although there was compromise and the government made sure that everyone knew it, many people still opposed the idea.
The general public has shown that politics does not just involve politicians, but people as well. This is how it should be. However, the government still has not listened to the full message.
Yes, there was compromise; the final verdict was that the campus would be split into two different campuses. The ideal scenario would be that Zonqor Point remains untouched. This conclusion only brings me to one question: Why does the government insist on having Zonqor developed? What has been promised to the Jordanian contractor? Last but not least, why is the government emphasising the difference between the north and the south?
Undeveloped land means unpolluted air and that is what we need in this highly polluted country we are living in today. Future generations should be able to enjoy the open air and places like Zonqor as much as possible and this is why we should respect and safeguard the last bits of ODZ land left.
The polluted air we breathe are not all due to car emissions. Speaking of cars, traffic is another issue that has very much been in everyone’s thoughts and mouths.
From public transport to personal transport, no matter where you look, traffic has become a nightmare and something needs to be done very soon. Before the 2013 election, the Labour Party ranted on about a roadmap solution to everything, including traffic.
In my opinion, the problem should have been addressed immediately and things should not have been allowed to get worse. If Labour really had a roadmap for everything, it would have addressed certain issues from the first day it was elected to office.
All we hear these days is Ministers saying that they do not perform miracles. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, isn’t it? The government comes up with, what I call, political bender solutions, where something is proposed just to divert people’s attention away from certain issues, traffic being the main one.
The government has proposed the construction of the Marsa Addolorata Junction. However, I would like to remind you that this proposal was put forward under the previous administration. Can you imagine the traffic congestion that will be caused by this project? I just hope that things will be done sensibly and not rushed. We recently heard of another proposal the government came up with – which they think is ‘partly’ the solution to the problem – and that is for students to start going to school an hour earlier in order to reduce traffic. Many parents, teachers and others have opposed this proposal. I don’t blame them, when you think long and hard you cannot fail to figure out that children already go to school early, especially those using school transport.
Are appropriate studies being considered in this proposal? Why has the government come up with this proposal a couple of weeks before school starts and not at the end of summer where one can really look into the issue and study it well?
Why has the government not looked into other means of transport proposals? One would need to look into proposals where proper, safe bicycle lanes can be incorporated into the road system where one could cycle to work or ride a motorcycle. We have experienced a substantial amount of accidents over the past months which caused motorcyclists’ fatalities. I believe that setting up dedicated lanes will lower the death rate of bikers.
Another means of transport could be a monorail but that would take many years to build and would probably not be feasible for our transport network. One needs to delve deep to carry out serious studies and draw from them healthy conclusions.
When one is optimistic rather than OK, that everything is good and they tend to ignore or not notice bad signs. Being realistic is the way forward. A realistic person’s mind is one that can anticipate long-term benefits. The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change and the realist adjusts the sails.
Alex Mangion is an Attard local council member elected on the PN ticket
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