Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/952911
10 maltatoday SUNDAY 11 MARCH 2018 MALTATODAY SURVEY OF CONCERNS MaltaToday Survey TRAFFIC remains the topmost concern across all age groups and irrespective of political alle- giance, a MaltaToday survey has found. With official data showing a stock of 372,061 licensed motor vehicles at the end of last year, of which 78% were passenger cars, traffic is the main concern every- where except the Western region. The survey held in the last week of February asked people to men- tion the three things that con- cerned them most in Malta. Traffic came out on top with a score of 20.1%, ahead of corrup- tion, which came in second with 10.4%. The rekindling of the contro- versial Vitals hospital contract at the start of the year may have contributed to corruption edging up in the standings. However, this was also the first MaltaToday survey that polled people's concerns after the mur- der of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The last survey on concerns published in October showed that traffic was a concern for 34.7%, followed by parking (12.2%), im- migration (9.8%) and corruption (7.3%). Foreigners cause concern Interestingly, 'foreigners living in Malta' was the third highest concern with 9.9%, reflecting the new reality that has taken root over the past five years and which appears to be causing unease in the community. However, there were another 5.6% who identified 'illegal im- migration' as a concern. If these are added up to those who men- tioned 'foreigners living in Mal- ta', the collective concern over foreigners hit 15.5%, putting it second behind traffic. Figures released by the Na- tional Statistics Office last month showed that by the end of 2016 there were an estimated 54,321 foreigners living in Malta, mak- ing up 12% of the population. With a thriving economy re- quiring a bigger workforce, more foreigners have since moved to Malta for work purposes and more are expected to do so in the future. This is contributing to a higher demand for housing, which is in turn reflected in a construction boom across various localities around Malta and Gozo. The survey captures this development with 8.8% identify- ing construction and the incon- venience it causes as one of their main concerns. Construction was only a concern of 1% last Octo- ber. With construction coming in at fourth, almost hand-in-hand in fifth place is the concern over environmental degradation, mentioned by 7% of respondents. This represents a slight increase over the 6.3% registered last Oc- tober. The results appear to underpin what the Prime Minister often describes as the 'problems of suc- cess' caused by an economy in overdrive, a growing population and the ever-increasing pressure on public infrastructure. Political variance But the survey also sheds light on what makes voters of the two major parties tick. While Nation- alist Party leader Adrian Delia is currently pitching migration and foreigners as a political platform, the survey found that the com- bined concern with foreigners is higher among those who voted for the Labour Party in the last election (20%) than it is for PN voters (11%). Traffic is the major concern for both PL and PN voters but a stark difference emerges on cor- ruption. While corruption was a concern for 3.6% of 2017 PL voters, it was the second-highest concern for PN voters at 20.1%. Males Females 18-35 36-50 51-65 65+ 21.1% 19.2% 26.5% 21.2% 15.6% 14.8% 9.2% 11.4% 12.0% 7.4% 10.5% 12.2% 12.1% 8.9% 9.9% 8.8% 10.4% 13.2% 9.1% 10.5% 8.0% 12.9% 10.0% 8.1% 9.1% 8.5% 12.0% 10.5% 7.5% 3.2% 6.7% 7.2% 6.5% 10.6% 4.5% 5.8% 5.7% 5.7% 3.9% 6.0% 7.2% 5.7% 5.7% 5.7% 3.9% 6.0% 7.2% 5.7% 5.7% 5.7% 3.9% 6.0% 7.2% 5.7% 3.3% 7.4% 7.5% 2.9% 7.5% 3.7% 4.4% 2.2% 2.5% 1.3% 4.5% 5.4% 3.6% 1.0% 1.9% 1.6% 2.5% 2.9% 0.9% 2.9% 0.0% 1.4% 1.9% 6.2% 1.8% 1.0% 0.0% 1.7% 1.2% 3.0% 1.0% 1.4% 1.1% 0.7% 1.8% 1.5% 0.7% 0.9% 0.7% 0.9% 0.3% 1.4% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 1.3% TRAFFIC NONE CORRUPTION FOREIGNERS LIVING IN MALTA CONSTRUCTION / INCONVENIENCE CAUSED BY 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 Gozo Northern Northern South Harbour Eastern 34.1% 18.6% 24.4% 17.5% 4.8% 13.4% 16.7% 3.1% 11.0% 13.8% 8.7% 6.0% 2.1% 8.2% 11.0% 10.8% 7.2% 12.1% 10.4% 9.6% 0.0% 12.2% 5.2% 8.8% 9.4% 3.9% 2.8% 7.4% 9.4% 3.9% 2.8% 7.4% 9.4% 3.9% 2.8% 7.4% 4.3% 1.2% 4.9% 12.2% 2.0% 4.9% 2.4% 2.8% 1.5% 1.1% 3.3% 1.2% 2.6% 0.0% 2.1% 3.7% 1.0% 0.8% 1.7% 1.6% 1.3% 1.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.0% 0.6% 0.5% 0.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% BY GENDER AND AGE CONCERNS BY REGION 'The problems of success' KURT SANSONE