Four bids for Park and Ride

Four offers have been received from private investors for the operation of the Park and Ride project, the government said yesterday.

The selected investors will also be responsible for the operation of the shuttle bus service to Valletta and Floriana.

The contract will be awarded at the beginning of December and the operator must be in a position to initiate the scheme by the end of May 2006.

The government expressed its satisfaction that a "substantial" number of offers had been made for the project, despite the criticism unleashed by some. Such criticism, a government statement added, was based on inaccuracies or misconceptions.

The government said that the Park and Ride project should not be confused with the strategy for better traffic management in Valletta, the consultation phase of which has only just been concluded.

Pointing out that the project is being carried out in collaboration with the Environment Landscapes Consortium, the government said that the Park and Ride initiative was intended to offer 950 alternative parking spaces for those entering Valletta.

The government questioned the logic of the Labour Party which claimed that the project would lead to traffic congestion around the city. The junctions at Blata l-Bajda, which will be completed in the coming days, will confirm that there will be direct access to the park without disruption to traffic, it said.

The Park and Ride project was based on similar initiatives taken in other European countries and the fact that the Labour Party had not offered any viable alternative to reduce traffic meant that it was solely bent on gunning down any initiative, the statement said.