Malta’s roads have become something of a minefield.

Whether it be dodging roadworks so intense that you think you’ve ended up in the back alleys of Baghdad, or dodging drivers and motorcycle riders who would be a great fit for the crazy streets of Mumbai: driving in Malta has become something to be dreaded.

It is clear that Malta’s road infrastructure – despite Ian Borg’s tarmac frenzy over the past few years – is at its breaking point.  One traffic accident brings the island to a standstill.

That would be reasonable if severe traffic accidents were few and far between.  But they are not.  13 people have already died this year in traffic accidents, with the most recent fatality coming a few days ago when a man succumbed to injuries he sustained in a crash in Gozo.

Road safety remains a grave concern.

Adding to the traffic problem is a number of roadworks which seem – at best – to have been poorly planned out.  One of Mosta’s main roads has been closed for traffic for over a year, while road closures seem to crop up out of nowhere and with little to no warning, sometimes even closing two roads which cater for a particular town – as has happened in San Gwann this week – at one go, hence bringing traffic chaos.

The problem, in truth, is quite obvious.  Malta has too many cars.  Once the people in power accept that an island with a population of half a million and which is 27 kilometres long and 14 kilometres wide simply cannot cater for over 400,000 cars then maybe we can start getting somewhere.

Yet, new Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia said in a television programme earlier this month that “four or five controversial projects” are in the pipeline.  We don’t really need to elaborate on the fact that these infrastructure projects tended to be controversial because of how they totally ignored the little bit of Malta’s environment which is left.

Lest we forget that Aaron Farrugia was Environment Minister prior to holding this position, a post where he always said that he was in favour of the preservation of Malta’s environment.  And yet now as Transport Minister he appears to be boasting about how a number of “controversial” projects – which may perhaps take up even more of Malta’s untouched land if the pending Mriehel flyover is anything to go.

One wonders which of these two personalities the real Aaron Farrugia is.

But we digress.  It is quite clear that no matter how many roads are widened and how many new lanes are created, before the number of cars on Malta’s roads decrease this will be a never-ending cycle.

The government has a significant opportunity – given that Malta is at a crossroads where an infrastructural update to many areas is needed – to steer the country away from reliance on cars and instead promote other means of transport.

What we’ve gotten instead over the past few years is more car lanes, bicycle lanes which are both unsafe and unconnected with each other, roads which treat mass public transport the same way it would treat cars, and more and more lost greenery.

We’re not quite sure what else it will take for a re-think to this country’s infrastructural priorities and direction.  Other cities further afield have done it and have done it successfully, so why not us?