Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506906
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWS Ghajn Weekend Press Quarter 15 x 20 no bleeds.indd 1 Ghajn Weekend Press Quarter 15 x 20 no bleeds.indd 1 18/07/2023 13:16 18/07/2023 13:16 more ACs, less wells… recent years. The locality of Gharb has the highest proportion of dwell- ings with a roof top solar pan- el (31%). In Malta the highest rate is found in Dingli (25%), Safi (23%), Mdina (23%), At- tard (22%) and Iklin (22%). In contrast only 3% of dwellings in Gżira, Valletta, St Paul's Bay and Msida have solar pan- els. Except for Valletta which mostly consists of old histor- ical buildings the localities with the lowest proportion of dwellings with a solar panel are also the ones which have seen most new development in the past decade. In Gozo the lowest rate of solar pan- els is found in Żebbuġ (8.3%) which is also the locality which has seen more recent develop- ment when compared to other Gozitan villages. The Census seems to vindicate claims by environmentalists that pencil developments are discouraging neighbouring properties from investing in this technology . Houses with air-conditioning shoot up from 52% to 84% In an indication that global warming is taking its toll the percentage of occupied dwell- ings which have an air-condi- tioner has shot up from 52% to 84%. The highest percentage of households with an air condi- tioner is found in more afflu- ent localities like Swieqi (91%), Attard (90%), Iklin (90%) and Naxxar (88%) while the lowest is found in Mdina (57%), Isla (75%) and Valletta (74%). Three-fourths of dwellings do not have a well The percentage of dwellings which have a well decreased drastically from 35.9% in 2011 to just 25.6% in 2022. This sug- gests that many of the dwell- ings approved since 2011 do not have wells. Prior to 2012, an article in the police code dat- ing back to 1818 specified that that all buildings should have a cistern which is kept good con- dition. But this law was widely ignored despite Malta's water scarcity problems. Regulations on the minimum energy performance of build- ings specify that any new build- ing should incorporate in its design a reservoir of adequate size for the storage and re-use of rainwater run-off. In the case of apartment blocks, the well has to be used by at least one of the flats. The Census shows that wells are most used in the Western district which includes rural areas like Rabat. In this region 39% of dwellings have a well; on the other hand in the highly urbanised Northern Harbour district only 16.8% had a well. In Gżira, only 6% of dwellings have a well.