Where will you be in the noisy season?

Sitting on a bus moving demurely through a tiny English village last week, the speed with which we Maltese tend to hit the horn in any traffic situation flashed through my mind.

Temporarily blocked by a movers' van, the village high street was too narrow for the bus to continue along its route. For a service that runs to the minute this was major. But did the bus driver blast the sleepy village to kingdom come with his airhorn? Hardly.

Following a soft and perfunctory "toot-toot", he was on the radio advising an imminent delay of a few minutes. We sat a minute longer until the movers appeared, smiled and drove off, allowing the bus to continue on its journey. In fact everyone smiled. There was not a ripple of hypertension in sight.

World Health Organisation statistics have recently pinpointed high levels of stress among the Maltese. Although completely odourless and totally invisible, noise is a threat which can cause hypertension and ischaemic heart disease. Excessive noise can cause sleep disturbance and even affect mental health. Noise pollution is the source of constant complaint which reaches a crescendo as the weather heats up and the festa season rains down on us once again.

A Mediterranean holiday island such as our own is expected to offer a fair dollop of animation, bustle and vivacity. This tends to rise to the level of an unhappy din which often goes on into the night.

Fireworks are not only noisy, they are considered a substantial contributor to harmful airborne dust which is an irritant to the bronchial system although the extent to which this is true has yet to be measured (SOER 2003). The Church has condemned the firing of petards at all times as a failure to show respect to the sick, the elderly, shift workers and young children.

Night shift workers are also the first to suffer whenever ear-splitting air shows, or open-air concerts are held. Noise pollution levels from nearby industrial activities have been reported as being a nuisance to both teachers and students and attending a school in Marsa. There have been several letters of complaint to the newspapers about amplified music from tourists, one pointing out that "every loud noise is harmful".

Decibel levels are said to reach 140 at times, even in the Maltese countryside. Noise measurements are supposed to be under MEPA's responsibility but sources say there is little co-ordination and measuring has been stopped when fireworks were being let off.

The Malta Standards Authority is responsible for setting and publishing standards for an overall noise policy. The Market Surveillance Directorate within the Ministry of Economic Services was originally entrusted with implementing laws regarding noise levels of household appliances and outdoor equipment. This responsibility should have been transferred to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs at the last reshuffle although all has gone silent on the matter so far.

When still Minister of Social Policy, Lawrence Gonzi defended blaring music at a luna park in Pembroke, claiming that it was within EU norms. However the 85-90 Db limit to which he referred was not applicable to people in their homes at night but meant for factory workers in the work place. To add to the confusion, while the police permit required that the luna park would not cause inconvenience, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg pleaded that a maximum decibel level for outdoor music had not yet been established.

"Will the EU ban fireworks and does it control noise coming from places of entertainment?" was a question frequently asked before Malta joined the EU. The official answer from the Malta-EU Information Centre is: "The EU leaves the regulation of noise from these sources in the hands of individual governments."

It seems we are in for another long, hot, loud summer.

As above, so below

At least one parish has attempted to curb noise pollution by banning petards at festa time. This might be a very good place for Church authorities to start swinging their weight in favour of a healthier, more sane congregation.

A top-down, bottom-up style of communication is necessary for sustainable development to take root in the Church. At a conference on the Catholic Church and the environment held last month Fr Eric Overend and Rev. Dr Paul Pace looked at how sustainable lifestyles could best be introduced in the Church.

Embracing sustainable principles should be an essential part of discipleship as stewards of God's creation. The job of stewards is to administer property which does not actually belong to them cut which has been entrusted into their care for a short time.

At the basic level the Church is understood to be the people. Sustainability involves the whole person - heart, mind, body and soul - fostering unity, taking responsibility and sharing experiences and benefits.

At diocesan level information sharing between the highest and lowliest can be augmented by horizontal communication on the same level to curb individuality and prevent behaviour which might be incompatible with the common aim.

On a practical level it was recommended that a better use of resources and a reduction in bureaucracy could result in a great amount of paper saved, for which God's trees would be grateful.

At parish level projects involving families or groups of people could be encouraged and parents could allot more time spent appreciating the countryside with their children, turning nature into a family value. Environmental education can begin at home.

Honouring God as the Creator could include organising Church functions with the environment as a theme. The Church could also hold services focusing on the environment and invite both politicians and non-governmental organisations to attend. Regular courses on environment would be a good idea for any interested parishioners including religious. The lessons learnt would be tied to the needs of the parish as it travels down the road to sustainability.

Other suggestions included an environmental audit of the parish to help parishioners understand environmental issues and make the appropriate practical and spiritual changes. A "Global Alert" notice board would keep churchgoers informed of environmental issues worldwide, such as the effects of climate change due to pollution.

Members of the Church were advised how a patch of land with environmental value could be adopted and cared for. This might be a border for wild flowers growing outside a chapel or a small organic herb garden near the parish church, the proceeds of which could help fund environment initiatives.

As part of its pastoral work the Church or its parishes might choose to endorse an environmental organisation working on a local or national issue of concern. Church leaders could continue to become more involved in the public debate on environmental issues and even set up their own discussion group for this purpose.

Participants were urged to consult Christian Websites on the Church's position and initiatives regarding particular issues. One such resource is www.christian-ecology.org.uk

Another describes itself as "an international conservation organization working to care for God's world" and can be found at www.en.arocha.org

WED at sea

Violent scenes of catastrophe are flooding screens this month as, The Day after Tomorrow, a fiction film based on real climate change hits cinemas around the world. This year the United Nations Environment Programme chose the theme of seas and oceans as a focus for World Environment Day (WED) on 5th June.

The UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan unit based in Athens has released some startling statistics about the state of the oceans to mark the occasion. For example, did you know that if all the world's ice melted the oceans would rise by 66 metres?

The MAP unit, formed as a result of the Barcelona Convention 1975, paints a clear and chilling picture of worldwide fisheries decline.

More than 70 per cent of the world's marine fisheries are now fished to their sustainable limit or beyond. Unintended by-catch caused by the use of non-selective fishing gear, such as trawl nets, longlines and gillnets amounts to 20 million tons a year globally.

Each year, illegal longline fishing, with lines up to 130 kilometres long using thousands of baited hooks, kills over 300,000 seabirds, including 100,000 albatrosses. In 2002 governments at the World Summit on Sustainable Development agreed to restore depleted fish stocks to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield by 2015.

The WSSD implementation plan calls for the elimination of destructive fishing practices and subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Government subsidies account for nearly 20 per cent of revenues to the fishing industry worldwide, promoting excess fishing capacity and encouraging over-fishing.

The Barcelona Convention was amended in 1995 to include management of the Mediterrranean coastal area and the merging of environmental concerns into sustainable development policies.

Another sea fact to bear in mind is this: Plastic waste kills up to a million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year. Plastic does not decompose and remains in the ecosystem to kill again and again.

Organise a snorkel dive at your local beach this summer to retrieve plastic from the sea.

Things we never knew before

As packaged milk from other countries tempts the consumer, a quantity of good local milk would be going to waste if it were not for our ricotta habit. Personally I am not enticed by milk that has guzzled up gallons of fuel to get to the Maltese shop shelf when we can have the fresh local product. Looking at the good side, Maltese ricotta has improved notably, being made from fresh local, instead of powdered foreign, milk as it has been in the past.

Malta Dairy Products has previously been known to discard large quantities of milk when it was contaminated with antibiotics. Herdsmen supplying the milk which contained unacceptable levels of antibiotics are now made to pay for the losses. A court case is underway to settle a dispute between MDP and a certain supplier. The polluter will have to pay.

Responsible European dairies (which now include MDP) ensure that no milk can be packaged and sold if it exceeds established limits for antibiotics. It is not possible to make live yoghurt with milk that contains an amount of antibiotics.

I was criticised for choosing to write about what seemed to me some positive news regarding the upgrade of the Maltese dairy just as the industry is struggling with the liberalisation of the dairy food market. In truth I have had access for several years to informed sources who told me about long term problems faced by our dairy in reaching the required standards. It was my choice at the time to leave well enough alone in the hopes that EU membership would change things. That time has come.

It was thought by my critic that writing about this subject would be detrimental to the sensitive industry. In my opinion it is far worse to keep information hidden from the public. Thankfully that era is coming to an end. Only a public that feels it is consistently fed with nothing but the truth will trust the product in the end. We do not expect miracles overnight but the changes must happen.

With the fodder crop making up a good part of our green and golden landscape of fields, while providing a possible sink for treated waste water, it is essential that we continue to support and enjoy local milk products. Any further news about their improvement is welcome. I shall continue to read, and when necessary quote from, Biedja u Sajd - an informative newsletter put out by the Department of Agriculture.

This monthly publication contains interesting articles regarding food quality and animal welfare although the weaning of calves on wire (instead of straw) for hygienic purposes does sound somewhat questionable if the welfare of the calf is considered. Why not ensure that the animal has plenty of frequently changed bedding as a more natural way of doing things?

It may be opportune to note that the Ministry for Rural Affairs and Environment is actively encouraging applications from farmers for financial aid to grow fodder. An extension to last month's closing date is in effect up to Friday with aid decreasing at one per cent each day after the deadline.

Senseless noise

Letter to the Editor - November 2002

"Year after year no one shows the least inclination to improve matters despite the protests and the suffering caused to so many."

Times editorial - June 2003

"Awful petards continue to shatter eardrums everywhere and time limits do not seem to be observed."

Letter to the Editor - July 2003

"What most people do not know about the ear is that every loud noise is harmful to the eardrum."

Letters to the Editor - August 2003

"This year's thunderous noise from festa petards was intolerable... I was left with no option to but to leave the house."

"I wonder how much longer we will have to tolerate this ridiculous situation... till we get a government with enough backbone to stop allowing a few to do what they like at the expense of the absolute majority."