Government stole our transport policies, says Bernard Grech

The government's initiatives to reduce traffic on Malta’s roads were copied from the PN's own transport proposals, Opposition leader Bernard Grech claimed on Sunday.

On Saturday, Transport Minister Chris Bonett announced a sweeping set of incentives aimed at tackling Malta’s chronic road congestion, including an offer of €25,000 for drivers willing to give up their car and licence for five years. The plan will be introduced within the next three months.  

Speaking at a political event in Kalkara on Sunday morning, Grech said he was glad the government was finally recognising that the country had a traffic problem. 

“We’ve been saying this for years, and in fact most of the incentives were the PN’s idea, with some being lifted whole and others tweaked slightly,” Grech said without elaborating which specific proposals he was referring to. 

Nevertheless, Grech said, the government was still failing to address the root cause of traffic: overpopulation. 

“Maybe these initiatives will work in the short term. Then the government will import tens of thousands of foreign workers, and we’ll be back to square one,” he said. 

Grech quipped that he thought prime minister Robert Abela would offer real solutions, given that he is “an expert on U-turns". 

“And where is the metro? They spent millions on promoting it with nice graphics and videos, and now it isn’t even a footnote in their plans,” he said, accusing Abela of being weak and unconcerned with people’s problems. 

On the rising cost of living, Grech said, the government had completely ignored the Opposition’s proposals and voted against its motion in parliament demanding action to tackle it. 

In his first public speech since being elected earlier this month, new PN secretary general Charles Bonello, meanwhile, said it was ironic that Monday was Freedom Day, because people’s freedom was diminishing in various ways. 

“Families are not free to live a decent life because of the rising cost of living. You aren’t free to travel from one place to another because of traffic. You aren’t free because security in the country has gone to the dogs.

"Magistrates are having their hands tied. And parliament’s freedom is threatened because government MPs are trying to stifle the speech of PN MPs,” he said. 

Bonello said he wanted to see the Nationalist Party strengthened to give it the best chance at the next election. 

He noted that the party had recently announced reforms to its structures from the bottom up, with a commission being appointed to revise the statute to ensure the party is run effectively. PN was also on the lookout for more volunteers and young electoral candidates. 

“We want a group of candidates who will be of service to the country. Together, we can change Malta’s destiny,” he said.