Employers' survey gives thumbs up to car free day

The Malta Employers' Association said yesterday that 80 per cent of companies that replied to a survey among its members about the impact of car free day on business stated that the event did not have an effect.

Another 17 per cent replied that their business was affected negatively, and three per cent said that the event affected them positively.

The association said that 62 per cent of respondents replied that they would have preferred to have the car free day on a weekend or public holiday.

Sixty per cent of employers who were affected negatively by the car free day operated in the wholesale and retail business, particularly in areas that were closed to traffic on September 22. Their main complaint was that the event should not have been held so soon after the storms of the previous weekend that had already resulted in a loss of consumer traffic to their outlets.

None of the respondents in the manufacturing sector, which constituted 26 per cent of respondents, replied that the car free day affected them negatively.