Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/952911
11 maltatoday SUNDAY 11 MARCH 2018 MaltaToday Survey Traffic None Corruption Foreigners living in Malta Construction/inconvenience of construction Environmental destruction/the environment Current state of roads Low wages Other Illegal immigration/immigrants The Opposition The government Cost of living Impunity / Everyone gets away with everything Lack of enforcement The police Water and electricity 20.1% 10.4% 10.4% 9.9% 8.8% 7.0% 5.7% 5.7% 5.7% 5.6% 3.2% 2.2% 2.0% 1.3% 1.2% 0.8% 0.3% Gozo Gozitans are by far the most worried about traffic with 34.1% listing it as one of their top three concerns. The result represents the highest score for any concern in all the regions. While the traffic situation in Gozo itself may not be as bad as in Malta, traffic is very likely to be a major nuisance for Gozitans who trav- el daily to Malta for work and study purposes. In a similar vein, Gozitans are also con- cerned about the state of roads. With 9.4% indicating bad roads, the concern comes in third behind corruption, which was men- tioned by 11% of Gozitans. Low wages are a worrisome reality for Gozi- tans (9.4%) more than anywhere else. In fact, low wages do not feature among the top five concerns in any of the other regions. Foreigners do not make it into Gozo's top five list of concerns. Northern region Traffic comes out on top as a major concern (18.6%) in this region, which includes Mellie- ha, Mosta and St Paul's Bay. This is followed by corruption at 13.8%. Possibly reflecting the pace of development in this region, environmental destruction (12.2%) and the inconvenience caused by con- struction (12.1%) come in third and fourth re- spectively. Foreigners living in Malta ranks fifth with 8.2% in a region that includes St Paul's Bay, which is the locality with the highest concen- tration of foreign residents. Northern Harbour It comes as no surprise that traffic tops the list (24.4%) in this region with the second highest percentage after Gozo. The region, which includes localities like St Julian's, Slie- ma, Qormi, Birkirkara and Hamrun, covers the key traffic nodes of the country. Foreigners living in Malta are the second highest concern here with a score of 11%. This could be a reflection of the high concen- tration of foreigners living in localities like Sliema, Msida and Gzira. The inconvenience caused by construction ranks third with 10.4%, which is not a surprise in an area that is witnessing a lot of develop- ment. Corruption is fourth with 8.7%, followed by environmental destruction at 5.2% South Eastern Although traffic in the South East tops the list with 17.5%, the combined concerns, 'il- legal migration' (second with 12.2%) and 'foreigners living in Malta' (third with 10.8%) rank highest with a score of 23%. This region includes Birzebbuga, which is very close to a migrant open centre (Hal Far), and Marsas- kala, which has seen a growing population of foreigners. The inconvenience with construction (9.6%) and environmental destruction (8.8%) come in fourth and fifth respectively. This region is the only one where corruption does not fea- ture in the top five spots. Southern Harbour Traffic is the topmost concern (16.3%) in the region south of the Grand Harbour but this is eclipsed by the concern over foreigners if the two separate aspects – foreigners living in Malta and illegal migration – are taken to- gether (24.6%). This region includes Marsa, which was in the spotlight last year after the council highlighted problems of unsocial be- haviour caused by migrants living in the lo- cality. Corruption with 12.6% and the state of roads with 6.7% were the other two issues making up the top five concerns in this region. Western This is the only region where traffic is trumped by corruption, which is a concern for 13.4%. The top spot for corruption is probably the result of this region's traditional tendency to be pro-PN. The survey found that PN voters in 2017 and those who intend to vote PN now regard corruption as a top con- cern, more than Labour voters do. Traffic comes in second with 12.9% and for- eigners living in Malta third at 9.5%. The last two of the top five spots are environmental destruction (9.3%) and construction (9.1%). Methodological note THE survey was conducted between 26 February and 1 March. A total of 501 re- spondents participated in the survey. Re- spondents were chosen using stratified random sampling based on age, region and gender. Moreover, multiple impu- tation by chained equations for missing data or non-answers by respondents was invoked. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.2% for a confidence interval of 95%. Regions used in the survey THE regions are based on the classifica- tion determined by the National Statis- tics Office. Southern Harbour: Valletta, Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua, Zabbar, Fgura, Flori- ana, Kalkara, Luqa, Marsa, Paola, St Lu- cija, Tarxien, Xghajra. Northern Harbour: Qormi, Birkirkara, Gzira, Hamrun, Msida, Pembroke, Pieta, St Julian's, San Gwann, St Venera, Slie- ma, Swieqi, Ta' Xbiex. South Eastern: Zejtun, Birzebbuga, Gudja, Ghaxaq, Kirkop, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Mqabba, Qrendi, Safi, Zur- rieq. Western: Mdina, Zebbug, Siggiewi, At- tard, Balzan, Dingli, Iklin, Lija, Rabat, Mtarfa. Northern: Gharghur, Mellieha, Mgarr, Mosta, Naxxar, St Paul's Bay. Gozo: Gozo and Comino Traffic top in all age groups, corruption slips among the middle- aged TRAFFIC is the top concern across all age groups but its importance diminishes the older a person gets, the survey found. From 26.5% among those aged 18 to 35, traffic drops to 14.8% as a concern among those older than 65 even if it remains top. Corruption takes the second spot among those aged 51 and over. Among the young (18-35) it ranks third with 9.9% while among the middle- aged (36-50) corruption comes in fifth with 9.9%. The combined concerns of foreigners living in Malta and illegal migration hits 15.5% among the young and 17.5% among those aged between 51 and 65. While construction is a concern for the young, environmental destruction does not make it to the top five spots in this age group (18-35). The same applies to those aged between 51 and 65. Will vote Wil vote Will Don't know PL PN Not vote who to vote 22.7% 20.4% 14.5% 18.5% 15.4% 4.1% 7.5% 8.5% 4.1% 23.4% 13.1% 9.1% 10.1% 6.5% 11.5% 10.0% 5.0% 6.9% 13.8% 14.3% 4.6% 3.7% 17.0% 7.8% 7.2% 3.3% 3.7% 6.4% 7.2% 3.3% 3.7% 6.4% 7.2% 3.3% 3.7% 6.4% 7.0% 5.4% 4.4% 2.9% 6.4% 0.1% 3.1% 0.9% 0.1% 8.2% 0.5% 2.1% 0.7% 5.5% 1.6% 1.3% 0.8% 3.1% 0.5% 1.3% 1.0% 0.1% 1.4% 3.4% 0.6% 1.7% 0.0% 0.6% 0.1% 1.1% 0.0% 0.0% Southern Western Harbour 16.3% 12.9% 12.6% 6.5% 11.1% 13.4% 13.5% 9.5% 3.2% 9.1% 4.6% 9.3% 6.5% 7.1% 6.5% 7.1% 6.5% 7.1% 6.7% 3.1% 3.7% 3.4% 3.2% 1.9% 0.6% 3.2% 1.5% 1.1% 0.7% 4.0% 2.6% 0.3% 0.6% 1.1% BY VOTING PREFERENCE Top five regional concerns