Many look forward to the summer months, which are usually associated with holidays, a more relaxed style of living and long days, mostly free from adverse weather conditions that often adversely affect our health.
However, as summer approaches, most people experience a sinking feeling triggered by increasing chaos on our roads due to construction and roadworks and pressures on the infrastructure caused by hundreds of thousands of tourists wanting to explore the island and have a good time.
Why can’t the authorities make life less stressful for residents by managing infrastructure projects in a way that minimises disruption on our roads at the peak of the tourist season?
Traffic disruption in the St Julian’s area is once again frustrating residents, tourists and drivers. Enemalta is still struggling to make up for many years of neglect in upgrading the electricity distribution system.
It is installing 13 kilometres of new underground cables across Sliema, Gżira and St Julian’s. Due to the works, a stretch of the busy Ċensu Tabone Street heading to Sliema has been closed to traffic. Unsurprisingly, drivers face delays and more congestion as traffic is diverted to alternative routes that were not planned to cope with such a high traffic volume.
Other major roadworks are undertaken in the Buġibba main square area.
The disruption caused by these substantial works at the peak of the tourist season is not limited to traffic congestion and more chaos on our roads. The dust these works generate is a health hazard for all residents, especially as the summer heat often encourages people to spend more time outdoors.
Of course, the Sliema and St Julian’s area is a tourist hotspot. Many tourists use hotels and rented apartments in the area. During the summer months, they roam the area, trying to experience the pleasure of swimming on the rocky beaches or eating or drinking in the many catering establishments.
The noise and air pollution caused by ongoing roadwork certainly do not enhance the experience of these visitors, who often return home and share their disappointment with their friends on social media.
The Malta Tourism Authority’s expenditure on marketing the country is rendered ineffective because the public authorities are unable to plan works to minimise disruption for residents and tourists at the peak of the summer months.
While tourism policymakers continue to promote mass tourism despite their hollow rhetoric about targeting quality tourists, they must at least ensure that the inconvenience to residents, especially those living in tourist hotspots, is better controlled. Why is it so difficult to coordinate with other public entities like Enemalta to avoid roadworks during the peak tourist season?
Many are also waiting with trepidation to see whether the garbage collection system, which is put under tremendous stress in the summer months in tourist areas, will be any better than it has been in recent years.
Social media video clips of rats roaming among garbage bags left on the streets for long hours before they are collected are a disgrace that the public health authorities and the local councils must not tolerate.
The public authorities’ laissez-faire mindset regarding the implementation of civic regulation is deteriorating the quality of life of many citizens. This phenomenon could result from incompetence, inexperience in managing public infrastructure projects, a propensity to tolerate abuse for political expediency, or an ingrained lack of empathy for the victims of mismanagement in the public sector.
Societal leaders, both in the political and non-political sectors, must do more to pressure the government to treat ordinary people with the dignity they deserve.