Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/990836
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 JUNE 2018 5 NEWS KURT SANSONE TRAFFIC may top the list of concerns but it is a significant- ly higher preoccupation for those living in the Northern region, a MaltaToday survey found. In this region, traffic was a concern for 31% of respond- ents, by far the highest across all regions. This suggests gridlock is a major problem for people liv- ing in Mellieħa, St Paul's Bay, Mgarr, Għargħur, Mosta and Naxxar, than anywhere else. Next in line is Gozo, where traffic tops the list of concerns with 23.7%, which probably reflects the commute to and from Malta many Gozitans make every day, rather than the problems they face on the sister island. The survey was published last Sunday and was held between 28 May and 31 May. People were asked to list their three topmost concerns and traffic came out on top with 16.6%. But despite traffic emerging as the highest concern overall, it slipped from the top spot in the Northern Harbour and Southern Harbour regions. People here have slightly differing concerns. While traffic was a con- cern for 12.3% of people in the Northern Harbour area, corruption came out on top with 14.3%. This is probably a reflection of the predomi- nant localities with a tradi- tional Nationalist Party back- ground. Overall, corruption was identified as a concern by 12.3% of survey respondents. On the opposite side, in the Southern Harbour, traf- fic slipped to fourth place with 8.2%. Here, the topmost concern was foreigners (a combination of concerns on illegal immigrants and for- eigners in Malta) that ran at 20.1%. This was followed by crimi- nality at 11.1%, which barely featured as a concern in other regions. It is unclear whether the two concerns are linked (the survey did not ask peo- ple to give reasons for their concerns) but Marsa was in the news late last year after the locality's mayor high- lighted the problems caused by unsocial behaviour of mi- grants who live in the town. Environmental destruction featured among the top three concerns in all regions, bar the Western region, where it slipped to fifth with 5.7%. This region includes locali- ties like Rabat, Siggiewi, At- tard, Balzan and Iklin. But while environmental de- struction appears to be less of an issue here, concern with construction and the inconvenience it causes ran at 7.8%, the second highest across all of Malta and Gozo. The Northern region was where the preoccupation with construction stood the highest at 8%. Another outlier was the con- cern with the parliamentary Opposition, expressed by resi- dents of the South East. In this region, the Opposition was in- dicated as a concern by 7% of people. Concern with the Opposi- tion also ran relatively high in the Western region where it was identified by 5.4%. The overall survey result saw the Opposition being men- tioned by 3% of respondents. Traffic concern slips from top spot in the harbour regions MaltaToday survey Gozo Traffic 23.7% Corruption 16.7% Foreigners 10% Environmental destruction 9.4% Police 4.2% Northern Traffic 31% Foreigners 14% Environmental destruction 8.4% Construction 8% Lack of enforcement 7.5% Northern Harbour Corruption 14.3% Environmental destruction 12.4% Foreigners 12.4% Traffic 12.3% Construction 5.9% South Eastern Traffic 13.4% Corruption 12.7% Environmental destruction 10.7% Foreigners 9.4% Inconvenience construction 7.1% Southern Harbour Foreigners 20.1% Criminality 11.1% Environmental destruction 10.5% Traffic 8.2% Corruption 7% Western Traffic 20.5% Corruption 18.2% Foreigners 11.8% Construction 7.8% Environmental destruction 5.7% Top 5 concerns in the regions Regions used in the survey The regions are based on the classification determined by the National Statistics Office. Southern Harbour: Valletta, Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospic- ua, Zabbar, Fgura, Floriana, Kalkara, Luqa, Marsa, Paola, Sta Lucija, Tarxien, Xghajra. Northern Harbour: Qormi, Birkirkara, Gzira, Hamrun, Msida, Pembroke, Pieta, St Julian's, San Gwann, St Ven- era, Sliema, Swieqi, Ta' Xbiex. South Eastern: Zejtun, Birzebbuga, Gudja, Ghaxaq, Kirkop, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Mqabba, Qrendi, Safi, Zurrieq. Western: Mdina, Zebbug, Siggiewi, Attard, Balzan, Ding- li, Iklin, Lija, Rabat, Mtarfa. Northern: Gharghur, Mellieha, Mgarr, Mosta, Naxxar, St Paul's Bay. Gozo: Gozo and Comino.