Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/570058
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2015 11 JAMES DEBONO TRAFFIC has once again over- taken migration as the top concern of the Maltese, a survey carried out by MaltaToday in the last week of August shows. The latest survey registered a sharp increase in concern about the environment and corruption, with concern on both issues registering the highest ever rise in MaltaToday surveys carried out since 2006. In the survey, 500 respondents contacted by telephone were asked to name the two most serious prob- lems facing the country. Although concern on immigra- tion has dipped by five points, a fifth of the Maltese still consider immigration as a major concern despite a lull in migrant arrivals. Traffic had already emerged as Malta's top concern in November 2014, when it overtook migration for the first time since 2013. But the present survey, carried out in August before the traffic chaos that will mark the re-opening of schools, suggests that problem has aggravated in the past months. The survey also suggests a dra- matic shift in the mood of the Mal- tese. Prior to the 2013 general elec- tion, Malta's main concerns were the cost of living and utility bills, two issues which have been com- pletely eclipsed by traffic, roads, the environment and corruption. The spike in concern on environ- mental issues comes in the wake of protests by environmentalists on the American University of Malta at Zonqor, and mounting concerns about the demerger of the Malta Environment and Planning Au- thority. The rising concern on corruption follows news of a land swap deal for Marco Gaffarena by the Lands De- partment, which triggered repeat- ed allegations of corruption by the Opposition and two parallel inves- tigations by the National Audit Of- fice and the Internal Audit Investi- gations Department. This suggests that while the present government is seen to have addressed concerns on bread and butter issues, its poli- cies are creating serious concern about the environment and cor- ruption. On the other hand, in a clear indi- cation that the public has a positive perception of the country's eco- nomic direction, only 2% expressed any concern about economic is- sues. The survey also registers the lowest concern about jobs since March 2014. Since then concern on jobs has decreased from 21% to just 3% now. Rising concern on traffic may re- flect the worsening gridlock situa- tion on Maltese roads. But it could also reflect a lack of concern on other issues which dominated sur- veys in the past. Moreover, trans- port-related issues also feature in the list of concerns mentioned by respondents – a staggering 16% re- ferred to the state of the roads, 7% referred to the state of public trans- port while 4% referred to parking. The biggest percentage-point in- crease over January was registered by respondents mentioning the state of the roads (+11.6), the envi- ronment (+8) and corruption (+7). The greatest decline in the level of concern was registered by re- spondents mentioning the cost of living as their main concern (-9). The survey shows that traffic reg- isters the highest level of concern among the university-educated while concern on immigration is highest among the secondary- and primary-educated. Concern on corruption and the environment is also highest among the university- and post secondary-educated but significantly lower among other educational cohorts. Among the university-educated concern on the environment emerges as the second greatest concern after traf- fic. Methodology The survey was conducted be- tween Monday, 17 August and Tuesday, 25 August. 883 phone calls were made in which 500 ac- cepted to participate. The survey was stopped when the 500 quota of completed surveys was reached. The survey's margin of error is esti- mated to be ±4.4 Survey Sharp increase in concern about the environment and corruption as concern about the cost of living, jobs and energy reach all time low S eptember 2015 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Traff ff f ic Immigration Roads Environment Corruption Public transport Parking Heath Cost of living Jobs Low income Economy Energy Moral issues Crime Others % c ha nge J a nua ry 2015 September 2015 Traffic Immigration Roads Parking Low income Crime Environment Health Economy Others Public transport Jobs Moral issues Corruption Cost of living Energy Traffic still driving us round the bend S eptember 2015 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 % c ha nge J a nua ry 2015 10 8 6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 Traffic Immigration Roads Environment Corruption Public transport Parking Heath Cost of living Jobs Low income Economy Energy Moral issues Crime Change January 2015 Traffic Immigration Roads Environment Corruption Public transport Parking Health Cost of living Jobs Low income Economy Energy Moral issues Crime