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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 AUGUST 2022 This is about more than just 'bicycles' Editorial IT has often been said (too often, perhaps) that Malta needs 'to find the right balance between economic and environmental concerns.' Yet no matter how often this mantra has been repeated: the 'right balance' remains as elusive as ever, to this day. Nowhere was this more visible, than in recent comments by Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia about his government's failure to deliver more bicycles lanes (a promise that, ironically, Farrugia himself had made, when wearing the hat of Environment Minis- ter). On Thursday, Farrugia repeatedly told The Malta Independent that 'nothing more can be done' to ac- commodate bicycles on our roads. "'Our roads are not highways, therefore, either we accommodate the bicycle in the small space that we have or we don't accommodate it,' he said. 'Until today our aim has been to make sure that our roads are safe, to keep our cars moving at pace; and then, when we can accommodate bicycles, we will also do this.'" He also said that "it is not possible to offer more space for bicycle lanes without neglecting the cars on the road." Effectively, that translates into a direct 'U-turn' (pun intended) from all the Labour government's past com- mitments on the subject. For Farrugia is simply wrong to state that: 'Until today [the government's] aim has been to make sure that our roads are safe, to keep our cars moving at pace." This is untrue. Government was also bound by nu- merous other pledges, hinging on other alternative modes of transportation to the motorised vehicle. It had promised to explore the possibility of mass-transit systems, for instance. And Farrugia himself had also pledged to try to reduce the number of cars on the road: precisely by encouraging more bicycle usage. In 2021, for instance – when still Environment Min- ister – Aaron Farrugia had unveiled the 'Bikeability' programme: providing free cycling lessons to the gen- eral public, "so that they can collectively start using cleaner means of transportation." "The bicycle is one of the most efficient means of transportation and cycling in itself reduces traveling times, while it decreases the number of cars in the streets," Farrugia said on that occasion. "This will ben- efit our environment, lowering emissions and helping in mitigating the effects of climate change…" But apart from a clear commitment to 'balance out' the needs of cyclists, and motorists – a commitment Farrugia has now publicly reneged upon – the present government is also bound by its own Climate Change targets to reduce CO2 emissions; and to safeguard public health. Farrugia himself acknowledges that encouraging bicycle usage would 'help in mitigating the effects of climate change'. And as former Environment Minister, he must also be aware of a 2019 study, carried out both by the Environment and Resources Authority and the University of Malta, which concluded that cars are "the greatest source of air pollution in Malta." After analysing air samples for over a period of six months, Dr Noel Aquilina, of the UoM's Faculty of Science, observed that: "The greatest amount of nitro- gen oxide comes from cars which use petrol and then you have carbon monoxide and particles which are a greater indicator of diesel cars. In fact, if we look at the pollutants one by one, they correspond with the pattern of traffic: it increases in the morning and peaks once again in the evening." As such, Malta's traffic situation is not merely of concern for environmental reasons; it is also a clear and present danger to public health. In 2018, a Euro- pean Environment Agency report estimated that 250 to 270 people die each year, from causes attributable to air pollution. That's the equivalent of roughly five deaths a week. The same report also notes that: "In terms of air pollution, road transport emissions are often more harmful than those from other sources as these hap- pen at ground level and tend to occur in cities, close to people." Meanwhile, environmental activist Cami Applegren has also provided an insider view of the lives of people suffering from respiratory conditions such as asthma: "When [my daughter] goes abroad she's off asthma medication from day one. When she's in Malta she's on two inhalers and steroids, as well as going to the policlinic for nebuliser regularly. Usually in the middle of the night. To be able to breathe." Applegren is therefore right to describe Farrugia's statement as "a slap in the face on the children suffer- ing from asthma triggered by the bad air quality. And they are many." On a separate note, there are also purely logistical problems with Farrugia's new approach to traffic management. His decision to relegate 'cycling' to an 'afterthought', also comes at a time when Malta's car-congested streets are inundated with a new mode of transport: e-scooters. And as the newly installed traffic systems simply do not cater for bicycles – including scooters – in any way at all… the result can only conceivably be more chaos; and more (potentially fatal) accidents) Ultimately, however, Farrugia's U-turn only illus- trates why his government has failed to ever strike that 'balance between environment, and economy. Such a balance can never be achieved, by only ever focusing on the economy, and the expense of the environment. 7 August 2012 Labour unwilling to block former secretary-general's candidature THE decision by Labour's former secre- tary-general Jason Micallef to announce his candidature has shocked Labour's kitchen cabinet but the party's top brass are reluctant to ask him to resign from his post as chairman of Labour's broadcasting arm One TV. As party secretary-general, Micallef had in the past imposed that all staff at One TV should resign from their posts if they chose to stand as candidates. But Micallef has since strained relations with many of Joseph Muscat's lieutenants and his relations with the party leader are consid- ered to be far from good. The decision by the PL administration to appoint Micallef as chairman of One TV was interpreted as a sop to convince Micallef to move out quietly from the PL's administra- tion. Members of Muscat's inner circle describe Micallef as a "loose cannon" due to what they perceive is his boisterousness and owing to the fact that he tends to put himself in the limelight with an ostentatious lifestyle: his personal vehicle, a Mercedes Benz, seems to have fuelled this perception among some La- bour insiders. But more importantly, his decision to put forward his candidature comes after Muscat publicly thanked him in the last general con- ference for deciding not to stand for the na- tional elections. The sudden change of heart has shocked the PL administration. Sources at One TV told MaltaToday that Jason Micallef refuses to resign as chairman of One TV, even though the post creates a con- flict of interest with his candidature. Micallef believes that he has a good chance of winning, though he is up against deep-seat- ed or so called 'star candidates' in the Mosta constituency which all come armed with the vote-winning 'blessing' of the party leadership. His relations are not only strained with many of Muscat's inner circle, but more im- portantly with deputy leader Anglu Farrugia, who is a heavyweight candidate and parlia- mentarian renowned to have clashed with Micallef. ... Quote of the Week "The traffic jams are not just due to infrastructure work, but also because of closed roads for feasts during the summer months" Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia responding to criticism about an overload of road projects causing gridlock MaltaToday 10 years ago