The Malta Chamber wants car users to pay for parking in densely populated areas, with money accrued through such a measure going into a pot dedicated to funding e-mobility measures. 

The proposal, first presented by the lobby group in the pre-budget document it released in mid-August, will be welcomed by traffic experts but is likely to face staunch resistance from other sectors of society. 

Malta has just under 440,000 registered cars, quad bikes and good-carrying vehicles on its roads, with the national population standing at 516,000. 

The sheer number of registered vehicles in the country have made parking and traffic congestion key national issues to tackle. While Valletta enforces a congestion charge, other parts of the country do not, and on-street parking is free. 

On-street parking fees would discourage car users from driving to congested areas, the lobby group argued, with any money accrued from parking fees going into an "e-mobility" wallet dedicated to increasing the use of electric forms of transport.  

In the Malta Chamber's mind, that e-mobility wallet would also receive money from bus fares, with the group saying plans to make bus rides free should be reconsidered.  

The group would also like to see road licence fees totally reformed to focus more on how much any vehicle is used on the road and to scrap the Gozo Tunnel project. 

Other proposals it made include the gradual phasing out of subsidies on petrol and diesel and for energy subsidies to be restricted to reasonable use of electricity. Units over and above the eco-reduction should not be subsidised, it believes. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela has pushed back against such proposals, telling Times of Malta that it is "not easy" to implement such ideas. 

Other suggestions presented by the lobby group include: 

• Reduced VAT when replacing energy-inefficient appliances
• Liberalising Malta's energy market
• Incentives for businesses to replace inefficient machines 
• Street lighting to function using motion detectors
• A new authority dedicated to electric vehicles and their rollout 
• Focus on training mechanics and other workers to work on EV vehicles 
• Scooters to be treated more like bicycles than motorcycles 

Planning

• Points system for PA when assessing applications, to encourage sustainable building 
• Replacing PA compliance certificates with an ongoing building logbook
• Introducing a national strategy 
• Building and road contractors should be licensed
• Rewarding good building practices 

Waste

• Privatising waste collection
• Revising waste policy to require multi-unit buildings to introduce mandatory garbage collection
• A garbage bag barcode system to tackle incorrect garbage sorting
• Introduce a delayed beverage recycling system as soon as possible
• Investment in a proper manure treatment procedure

Food and agriculture

• Testing of large-scale commercial hydroponics and aquaponics agricultural
• Research algae farms and other alternative ways of generating protein.
• More effort to convert organic waste into compost
• Education campaign promoting the consumption of locally grown produce and locally processed food and beverages. 

You can read the full set of proposals below.