Killing us softly

One of the few things I hate about Malta. It's killing us and it's killing our children. Slowly. Without realising it. Smoke. There's no denying that air pollution is the main cause of respiratory illnesses. Statistics show that these have been on the increase and the difficulties and helplessness caused to sufferers are ever more present. Some patients require medicines that cost more than EUR720 per year, which admittedly, is a small price to pay to be able to breathe. Then again, some patients cannot afford to pay for this and the treatment is not offered by the national health service.

There are different sources of smoke, some essential and some completely unnecessary. Let's look at the absolutely unnecessary. Cars with flared exhaust pipes bellowing black clouds of smoke on our roads, into our faces, our nostrils, our lungs. Into those of our sons and daughters, even in the pushchair. The perpetrators of these acts are criminals. These are crimes that are allowed to happen everyday. I was happy when the SMS reporting system was introduced, I regularly used the number to report abusers. To my disappointment I soon realised that this system was not having the desired effect. The same cars that were reported over and over just keep pouring filth into our lungs.

I cannot understand why they do it. I sometimes suspect that it is just trendy, makes their car sound faster and draw people's attention, but then I just can't make myself believe that this is the case. The reason is probably that they are not aware of the consequences of their actions. Nobody in their right state of mind would want to harm their neighbours, their relatives, their loved ones. It is therefore a matter of education, we need to do something about this. In the same way we encourage people to stop smoking, we need to teach people to keep their carbon emissions as low as possible.

Then there are the buses and heavy vehicles. New trucks and buses, I'm happy to notice, seem clean – these make up a very small percentage of the total. I think that EU regulations are very strict on the issue of carbon emissions. After years of full membership it is about time to start tackling this in a serious manner. Our environment starts with the air we breathe.