Government's light rail project is 'another silly season promise' - PN
Transport Minister says initial coring work has started in Floriana
The government's latest mass transport project proposal "is nothing more than yet another silly season promise" the Nationalist Party said on Monday.
It observed that just days after Transport Minister Chris Bonett’s presentation about a proposed light rail system, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana had declared in an interview that he was not convinced about its viability and threatened to resign if the government proceeded with the plan.
Both Caruana and Prime Minister Robert Abela confirmed that no costings had been carried out.
Bonett said on Thursday that a 24-kilometre light rail line would be built, linking St Paul’s Bay to the airport. On Monday he announced the start of initial coring tests in Floriana.
The PN observed that in an interview with MaltaToday , the Minister for Finance confirmed that he had not been consulted and was even less convinced about the project’s viability.
The PN recalled that last Septembe,r Caruana has described Robert Abela’s promises about a metro (right before the 2022 election) as “silly season proposals”, meaning empty promises made before every election.
"It is disappointing that once again, on a matter so important for the country and for the Maltese and Gozitan people, we have leading exponents of the Labour Government who are not even in agreement with one another," the Pn said.
"After wasting 14 full years, it is clear that this government will never succeed in delivering this important and necessary project for our country."
The only thing the Maltese and Gozitan people could be certain of was that they faced many more years stuck in traffic.
By contrast, the PN said, a new PN government would, within the first 100 days of taking office, announce an implementation framework for a mass transport project, with the first line completed in the legislature.
Government is serious about its plans - ministry
The Transport Ministry in a statement later said the coring tests confirmed that the government was serious in its project plans. It explained that the current tests, down to a depth of 50m were aimed at determining the composition and density of the rock. They would also establish whether there was the presence of any water.
The tests would ultimately help determine the route which the first line would follow.
Core tests underway in Floriana.