SLIEMA – where has the “peace” gone?!
Sliema, 8.00 a.m. Waves lapping.
Seagulls squawking.
People
strolling. Horns honking. Workmen digging…
The Maltese word Sliema means peace and tranquillity.
Our school is located in the heart of Sliema. Over the past years, our
journey towards school has always ended with a peaceful, picturesque
ride by the Sliema coastline from where we could admire beautiful
yachts rocking gently on the calm, azure waters.
The situation has, however, changed drastically over the past year. Our
journey to school has indeed become an urban nightmare. This change
has been mainly brought about by the extensive construction and road
works being carried out.
For instance, in
most of the streets surrounding the school
one will surely find a crane, a lorry or some
other heavy vehicle blocking the street and
carrying out building works.
The map below shows the streets in close proximity to our school. The
red arrows indicate the places where construction or road works are
being carried out (at the time of writing this report). The yellow circle
pinpoints the location of our school. As can be seen, there are 9
separate construction sites in an area less than 1 km2 surrounding our
school.
These works lead to a variety of problems, namely:
Traffic Congestion
Heavy vehicles parked in the streets, or blocking the entry to main
arterial roads, cause traffic havoc.
Potholes and broken pavements
Tarmac often gives way under the pressure
created by the heavy vehicles, resulting in
dangerous walking for pedestrians.
Lack of parking
Parking spaces have been greatly reduced due to either the closure of
some streets or large spaces being reserved for construction vehicles.
Noise pollution
The at times incessant digging, drilling, hammering,
and engine roaring can become very stressful on
Sliema residents. These have to put up with the noise
throughout most of the daylight hours.
Air pollution
The stone works inevitably liberate a huge
amount of dust into the atmosphere.
A
recent study carried out by our school for the
NSTF Science Week on the pH values of rain water in Malta, has shown
that the pH value of rain in Sliema is significantly higher than that of
other localities. (pH < 7 indicates acidity, pH > 7 indicates alkalinity).
Rain water was collected from 20 localities distributed in the northern,
central and southern parts of Malta. The graph below shows the mean
pH value from 7 readings for the rain water collected from the different
localities.
The data we obtained showed that the high pH value of rain water in
Sliema is second only to that in Swieqi, where extensive construction is
also taking place. After researching ‘Alkaline Rain’, we found that the
major cause of alkaline rain is the presence of calcium carbonate
(limestone) dust in the air.
In conclusion, our results suggest that the presence of excess dust in
the air of localities such as Sliema and Swieqi is contributing to
alkalinisation of rain pH.
Studies have shown that air pollution is closely related to various health
problems.
While talking to the residents in one of the neighbouring
streets we were also told that they have a problem with drainage flow –
every few weeks they have to unblock their
manholes. Could it be that the drainage system is
not coping with the augmented flow coming from
the increased number of houses being built?
Furthermore, is the construction having any
effect on the coastline and the marine life?
We think that several factors need to be considered before the old,
majestic, beautiful buildings in Sliema are indiscriminately pulled down to
be replaced by high, imposing boxes of apartments. We propose that:
 Only a limited number of permits for construction should be
approved at one time.
 There should be an increase in fees to be paid by cranes or heavy
vehicles obstructing the roads. This will help speed up the works.
 There should be prompt resurfacing of roads to repair any
damage.
 There could be incentives for people to enhance the appearance
of their building façade by decorating with flower pots etc.
Don’t the Sliema residents deserve the peace and tranquillity that the
name of their town promises?