Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1107757
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 APRIL 2019 NEWS DAVID HUDSON MALTA'S standard of liv- ing might dip in the near fu- ture due to an ever-increasing population, University of Malta professor of geography John Schembri, says. Schembri's main concern is that if a massive popula- tion density is coupled with an inadequate distribution of wealth, the number of persons per room in Malta might be- come a worrying statistic. "As long as Maltese govern- ments are not selfish and tackle the problem of overpopulation, the Maltese have enough en- terprise and mental strength to fight it," Schembri, an ex- pert on human geography who works on the compilation of the population census, says. "Malta is like one big city. It was always a pole of attrac- tion. Malta's population ex- ploded from 20,000 to 100,000 after Valletta was built. It was surprising at the time because Malta had no resources to speak of... The same thing hap- pened in 1869 when the Suez Canal was opened and the Brit- ish empire employed Malta as a station in the chain of British colonies. Malta became a link in that chain. During the First World War, Malta had the availability of 25,000 beds for the wounded – when you con- sider that Mater Dei hospital has only 1,000, you realise how enormous this was. Every place that could become a hospital became a hospital and the beds were constantly occupied," Schembri said. The last population census of 2011 has shown that 67,000 foreigners were living in Malta then, 14.1% of the entire popu- lation. It's up to the next census of 2021 to indicate whether the majority of these have moved on. Schembri believes that most economic migrants in Malta return home. "They usually circulate and most of the time return home. But they are coming from eve- rywhere – Europe, sub-Saha- ran Africa, the Middle East, the Philippines. If they come from areas that are war-torn, they are likely to stay here for longer." Schembri explains that Mal- ta's population density was al- ways high, and at 1,300 persons per square kilometre, it is easily and by far the highest popula- tion density in Europe. "Popu- lation density was always high. We got used to it. What's wor- rying is the number of persons per room. Census compilers ask people how many rooms they have in their house and ask how many people live in that particular household." The 2011 census already showed that this figure was quite high, with over 5,000 people living in houses in which the number of rooms was equal to or outnumbered the persons living in the house. It also showed that thousands lived in different institutions such as monasteries, welfare Can Malta cope with its population growth? The 2011 census showed over 5,000 people lived in houses in which the number of rooms was equal to or outnumbered the persons living in the house. Will this warning of unaffordable housing worsen in the next 2020 census? "It doesn't make sense socially, hygienically and from a family- environment perspective"