How disgraceful that official letters written by an elected local council about the improvement of traffic management and a ring road proposal are ignored by so-called public servants at the ADT and that reminders are treated in the same fashion (Council's Efforts To Solve Victoria's Traffic Problems, June 3).

I do not know whether this, despite the rhetoric at election time, is a reflection of the low priority accorded Gozo by the main political parties or whether it is another example of the incompetence and/or inertia displayed by some government agencies such as ADT.

One can only hope that now ADT falls under the remit of a minister renowned for action, this agency might take this matter a little more seriously and bestir its collective self to grapple with the problems highlighted in the mayor's letter.

Lest officialdom thinks these problems exaggerated, they should send their representatives to sit at the many pavement cafés lining Republic Street and Independence Square, breathe in the noxious fumes and try to have a decent conversation while the numerous heavy, and often overladen and inadequately covered, lorries pass in abundance throughout the day.

Released from their isolated and cocooned bureaucratic fiefdoms, they might come to some obvious conclusions of the impact on the promotion of tourism in Gozo and, more generally, on the health and wellbeing of local citizens.

There are some things, however, that the local council might do to alleviate matters in the meantime.

It could, for example, instruct wardens to give higher priority to double-parking and other illegalities which daily occur up and down Republic Street since these undoubtedly add to the problem by causing unnecessary, and sometimes dangerous, obstructions of the highway. In the same vein they might insist that coaches drop tourists off at the bus terminus rather than in Savina Square. At present this practice, made worse by the apparent insistence of coach drivers to perform U-turns in the square rather than go around the back of the Citadel, causes major hold-ups and leads to even more pollution from queuing vehicles than need otherwise be the case.

I do hope that Robert Tabone and his council will not give up the struggle for action and that with the assistance of the Ministry for Gozo, which should be in the forefront of any pressure exerted on government departments, they will be successful in their plans to make Victoria a better and more healthy place both to visit and to live.