With the recent public transport strike concluded and the prominence of the event rapidly on its way to becoming little more than just a hazy memory to the forgetful populace, the general flow of things has mostly returned to normal. However the underlying malady that plagues the islands still yet endures.

No, I do not speak of dishonest political entities that dispense eleventh-hour electoral promises that they either have little idea how to fulfil or have little intention of fulfilling to begin with. Neither do I directly speak of the general inefficiency, inadequacy or pricey nature in the service offered by the public transport sector (particularly with certain taxis with the last of these), although both of the aforementioned problems do require address by competent authorities.

The malady that I speak of is ongoing and is fully integrated into our daily lifestyles. It leeches upon our limited resources to an ever-increasing degree… and by this I do not directly refer to wither out fuel-guzzling power stations or the government’s doubling of the very same surcharge that the nationalists succeeded in making the people forget this last election.

I speak of the 280,000-odd registered vehicles that circulate within the second-rate infrastructure of our islands, a catastrophically sad figure if one were to consider it unlikely that the overall population of Maltese individuals capable of or willing to drive exceeds 320,000. Yet upon all levels we fail to realize that more is less. The roads are growing more congested and travel times are growing more lengthy. Seeking parking space is becoming more of a problem and one can occasionally note a faint haze that looks suspiciously like smog hanging over well-traversed low-lying areas such as Regional road in the vicinity of St. Venera.

And in the meantime the government is now speaking of plans to introduce a tram service. In all truth the idea is a good one, in principle, but this greatly depends upon the competence with which it is implemented. Furthermore a tram service is no solution in and of itself, although it is respectable enough as part of any solution, which is why I anticipate this year’s 2nd Valletta conference for sustainable urban transport “towards a new culture” in urban mobility.

While I do not consider myself an expert in the field of transportation I do possess some understanding. Put very simply I am of the belief that I have in my possession the key to Malta’s transportation woes. The problem with my key is that it actually solves the core problem of the issue at hand – dependency – and would entail a degree of economic restructuring that some would not appreciate… but it would solve the issue. In the run-up to the previous election I stated that my goal was to gradually slash the number of registered vehicles in Malta by over 90%.

I do realize that this contribution has been more of both a lament and a tease than a true contribution. It is unfortunate that suspicion should rule within a situation of such great need. I do however take this opportunity to appeal to interested entities to make themselves known as with a collective effort I have reason to believe that we could take over the transportation sector and simultaneously make the islands a much better place to live in.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 11:59 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.