What's good for the goose...

I rarely put pen to paper to air my views on issues which crop up from time to time as I think one should not ram one's opinion down other people's throats. However, as a frequent visitor to Sliema, my heart bleeds for the people who keep writing about the Qui-Si-Sana development saga. It seems they are losing their sleep because they fear that one fine day the road around the Qui-Si-Sana peninsula will carry more traffic. It's as if this "new" development was sprung on them out of the blue... which is a far cry from the truth.

You don't need to be an urban planning expert to realise that the writing has been on the wall for decades. The road from The Ferries towards Tignè Fort was made very wide for a reason - it was always intended to continue round the Tignè peninsula. Years ago, the Sliema local council put up a sign encouraging drivers to use the "longer route" and avoid the town centre. More recently, the Midi developers were required to build a tunnel across the peninsula precisely for that reason. Anyone who bought a property along the Qui-Si-Sana front should have realised this. So why all this moaning and groaning?

Every week we have to stomach a number of letters by "poor" Qui-Si-Sana residents about the eventual loss of quiet because of the increased traffic. We got the point now!

The traffic from Tower Road will be diverted to the road around the peninsula. This will happen with or without the Qui-Si-Sana car park. So, here again, why all the fuss?

To my mind the argument is fairly simple: Is there a problem of parking in Sliema? Yes. Will the situation improve? Most unlikely. Will an additional car park relieve part of the problem? Yes. Then the car park is needed, sooner rather than later. Maybe the debate should be on how to do it, but surely not on whether it should be done! An argument against the car park based on pollution is nothing but barren talk because most of the pollution will be dissipated before it reaches any of the apartments across the road.

The residents also want a resident parking zone. That's all very well, but that means that common mortals - like myself - who do not live in Sliema but who work or want to shop there will have more difficulty to park. The proposed Qui-Si-Sana car park would provide additional parking and make life easier for workers and shoppers. This small group of Qui-Si-Sana residents want the resident parking scheme and yet object to the car park. They want to make things easy for themselves and much more difficult for everyone else. How's that for egocentrism?

This small group of people would also prefer to see shoppers in the Sliema town centre consistently engulfed in car and bus exhaust. I earnestly long for the day when traffic will go round the Tignè peninsula so that I, together with thousands of Maltese and tourists, can truly enjoy a proper shopping experience in the Sliema town centre.

And what about politicians? Politicians, or at least the ones with the least fibre, will suck up to whoever makes most noise. For what other reason would Alternattiva Demokratika suggest that the Midi tunnel be extended (November 26)?

The tunnel extension would benefit a small group of owners of Qui-Si-Sana seafront properties. It will avoid having traffic outside their front door. These people are asking the government to spend public funds to benefit a very small group of property owners.

What about all those of us living along busy roads in places like Msida, Birkirkara, Fgura, Paola and even in Sliema itself? Why shouldn't the government spend money to reduce the impact of traffic on people in other localities too?

The government could, for example, insist on more effective enforcement with regard to noise and air pollution. Money, time and effort could be spent to reform the public transport system in order to get more people to use it. That would not just benefit a handful of property owners but thousands of people who, day in, day out, have to put up with large volumes of traffic.

What is so special about this small group of Qui-Si-Sana residents to warrant the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of liri to accommodate them?

The way the print media has been used and abused by a very small group of people to exert pressure is truly remarkable. Their PR strategy is simple: they repeat the argument over and over again. They want to give the impression they are more than just a handful and that they are in the right. They are wrong on both counts.

reuben@n2rage.net