PN slams lack of detail in traffic-relief plans

Updated 8.30pm with PL response

The Nationalist Party has criticised the government for failing to divulge the exact goals of its proposed measures to tackle Malta’s traffic woes. 

Last week, Transport Minister Chris Bonnet unveiled a series of incentives designed to reduce the number of cars on the country’s roads.  

These include an offer of €25,000 to drivers willing to give up their car and licence for five years, a proposal to pay 17-year-olds €1,500 a year for four years to ride scooters instead of driving cars, as well as shifting road services such as rubbish collection to off-peak hours.  

At a press conference in Msida on Thursday afternoon, shadow minister for transport Mark Anthony Sammut said the least he expected from the government was for it to share its targets. 

“For example, how many cars it wants to be removed from the roads, how many youths will put off getting a licence, or how many people will swap their cars for bikes,” Sammut said. 

Experts who spoke to Times of Malta said the cash incentive of €25,000 would only result in a maximum of 2,500 fewer drivers – or less than one per cent of all drivers in the country - on the road this year.  

Sammut said the government was approaching the problem from the wrong direction. 

“Before trying to get people to give up their cars, the government has to ensure there are alternative means of transport. We still don’t have a plan for a mass-transit system. Before the election the government spent €2 million promoting a metro, and now says it isn’t a priority,” he said. 

Turning to two-wheeled transport methods such as cycling, Sammut said that the necessary infrastructure had to be in place before commuters were encouraged to make the switch. 

“Instead, the transport minister says, ‘We’ll see depending on how many people take up the incentives’,” he said, adding that people’s biggest worry was the lack of safety on the roads. 

Sammut insisted that the Opposition agreed with several of the government’s proposals because it had proposed them itself years ago, namely rubbish collection outside of peak hours, the plan to add a cargo-only shipping route between Malta and Gozo, as well as national strategies on walking and cycling. 

“On the other hand, we disagree with increasing Transport Malta’s budget by an exorbitant amount. People are not being hired and promoted because they are competent and experienced, but because they are die-hard Labour supporters or people suggested by the minister or Castille,” he said.  

Sammut said that if the government wanted to tackle traffic, it needed to shift the country’s economic model away from the importation of foreign labour. 

Fellow PN MP David Agius said he was late to the start of the press conference because he himself got stuck in traffic following a collision in Marsa. 

He called on the government to reverse its plan to increase the number of years after which a car is deemed to be classic from 30 to 35 years. 

“Not only will this increase the number of cars on the roads, since vintage cars can only be driven a maximum of 3,000 kilometres a year, but also because we believe this hobby should be supported,” he said. 

Consultation - PL

In a statement issued Thursday evening, the Labour Party pointed out before the measures were launched consultation was held about the proposals with experts, social partners and the public. 

The PL accused the PN of not wantintg transport to be addressed in Malta, adding that the opposition's mass transport option could take "decades" to implement.

"The current needs are of no interest for them," the Labour Party said.