The power of local councils

Last week, the government overruled the decision taken by the Mosta local council to halt the weekend pedestrianisation of the main square. Transport Malta informed the council that the square will continue to be closed to traffic every Friday and Saturday evening, extending the policy through October.

This decision comes in direct conflict with the newly elected council’s decision to end weekend closures starting September, pending public consultations.

The council had cited concerns from residents and businesses, particularly those affected by diverted traffic and decreased accessibility, as reasons for suspending the pedestrianisation initiative.

I think that the pedestrianisation of the area in front of the Mosta Rotunda is, in principle, a very good idea. But its implementation has led to several problems, including exacerbated traffic congestion in the surrounding areas and a dramatic decrease of people going to hear Sunday mass at their parish church. The Council is therefore holding consultation meetings to see whether a solution to these problems – or most of them – can be found.

What is significant in this story is the way the government overruled a local council by simply sending them an email.

Local councils were established so that decisions that can be taken at a local level are taken at that level rather than by central government. On the other hand, Labour prefers to control everything from the centre and therefore it did not welcome the establishment of local councils.

It prefers to have local MPs dishing out favours than local councils taking decisions.

Originally local councils were given limited powers with the intention that these powers would be extended as the idea of local government got more established.

Labour reversed this plan and removed the collection of rubbish, street lighting and local road management from the responsibilities of local councils.

In other words, the councils were rendered powerless and now they practically serve solely as a government notice board for each locality.

Elections of local councils are now used as a barometer, testing the popularity of the two main political parties, rather than an indication of approval or disapproval of the decisions taken by the outgoing council.

Instead of helping people to get out of the mentality that their MPs serve to push on decisions that are tied solely to local circumstances, Labour has reinforced the idea that citizens seek intervention from their MPs on any issue – from the nit-picking to the sublime.

Local council elections, like all democratic elections, are unlike any other conflict because they are fought on a hidden battlefield inside the voters’ brains. Winning means changing the way people behave or want to behave.

Labour couldn’t give a toss about such considerations. Consolidating the power given by electors in a general election comes first and foremost. Having any other body exercising power at a local level is – for them – anathema.

More on Chamber’s initiative

Following my piece on the recent document issued by the Malta Chamber, my attention was drawn to the fact that the call for moratorium on tourist accommodation – not solely hotels – was first put forward by the Chamber three years ago when it launched its vision for the tourism industry in 2021.

In fact, MHRA initially did not agree with the idea until a year later when it published a carrying capacity study, in which it conceded that that the Chamber’s earlier estimates and observations were correct.

The Malta Chamber’s proposal was to set a moratorium on applications for tourist accommodation. “This should apply with immediate effect to any future applications. Applications that have been approved but are still at a planning stage as at the date of the enactment of the moratorium should be reviewed by the MTA in terms of alignment with the sector’s new strategy and vision, with investors incentivised and supported to revise plans as required to conform more effectively with same, allocating due weight to the overarching strategic principles of quality and sustainability.”

The chamber has also questioned whether we need more office blocks and supermarkets. As to restaurants and cafes, the Chamber feels that no moratorium is needed as these have a smaller environmental impact and change of ownership or of use is much easier than in the case of a hotel.

Moreover, the Chamber has been repeatedly harping on for the past years on the revision of the 2015 Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) with the need for the “allocation of the necessary budget for SPED 2015 to be reviewed without any further delay. This must be done together with a comprehensive review of all planning policies to ensure that (i) all policies are aligned with the revised SPED, (ii) all policies are clear and unambiguous, leaving no room for a ‘pick and choose’ approach, and (iii) it is unequivocally determined which planning policies take precedence over others to prevent abuse, misinterpretation and misapplication of policies”.

In this context, one has to note that Clause 1.13 of SPED 2015 identified the year 2020 as the first milestone for review. To date no review has been carried out. Incidentally, the parameters spelt out in SPED 2015 requiring that development and land use policies to be (i) illustrated by diagrams as necessary and (ii) accompanied by explanatory memoranda which give a reasoned justification for each policy, have not materialised either.

Plastic waste

The world produces around 250 million tons of plastic waste in municipalities in one year – plastic bottles, cigarette butts, plastic packaging and much more. Much of that waste is put into landfills while some of it is recycled.

A new study published last week in the journal Nature concludes that a large proportion of the plastic waste created across the world is burned in the open air, threatening human health and demonstrating the world’s ongoing struggle to manage its plastic pollution. 21% of all plastic waste is unmanaged, according to the new paper - meaning it never makes it to a landfill or recycling plant. 57% of that unmanaged waste is burnt outside, creating deadly air pollution.

The unmanaged plastic waste that is not burned ends up in waterways, the sea and the environment. Other debris is broken down by wind, rain and ultraviolet light.

That eventually turns larger plastic pieces into microplastics, which have been found in the air and in the human body with dangerous health implications.