The traffic diversions implemented for this week's SiGMA conference were more effective than last year's, but the large-scale nature of the event and the sheer number of visitors it attracts inevitably leads to congestion, the Transport Ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry was contacted for a reaction to hours-long tailback traffic over the past 24 hours.

It told Times of Malta that last year's issues were primarily caused by participants being stopped in the middle of Labour Road to be dropped right at the entrance of the event.

To address this, Transport Malta directed all transportation to alternative spots, including the car park next to ONE TV and the area adjacent to Triq Aldo Moro. And to that end, the traffic management plan was a success, it said.

"No issues were reported in the immediate vicinity of the venue and therefore one can conclude that the diversions worked, also thanks to the hard work carried out by the enforcement officers of Transport Malta, LESA and the Police," a Transport Ministry spokesperson told Times of Malta.

"However, this being a 30,000-person strong event means that there will always be some form of congestion. It is a large event, similar to concerts and football matches abroad, where congestion is ever present."

The annual massive event was relocated from Ta' Qali to Marsa's Malta Maritime Hub last year, which is when traffic chaos was reported across the region during the days of the conference.

'SiGMA needs to shrink'

Despite efforts to mitigate traffic congestion, the event has led to gridlock on major roads, frustrating commuters and sparking public outcry.

On Tuesday, the main road linking the north and south of Malta, Triq Dicembru 13, was severely congested from Blata l-Bajda.

Traffic along Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli was backed up from the Kappara flyover to Marsa. Surrounding roads, including the Mrieħel bypass and parts of the Birkirkara bypass, were also heavily impacted.

On Wednesday early afternoon, the Facebook page Maltese Roads Traffic Updates was reporting similar congestion across the central region.

A snapshot of traffic in Marsa on Tuesday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Motorists took to social media to express their frustration and the CEO of online casino company White Label Casinos - Phil Pearson - even suggested the event should "shrink".

"This show is too big for a tiny peninsula surrounded by water, a highway and more Transport Malta staff than I even knew worked for them," he wrote on LinkedIn.

He drew contrasts with successful igaming shows in cities like London, Berlin, and Amsterdam, highlighting their convenient locations, reliable public transport, and well-suited venues.

In contrast, Sigma's location was remote, lacked adequate public transport, and had caused significant traffic congestion and inconvenience for attendees, he said.

"In two days, the average commute time from my house (St Julian's) is 104 minutes. I have fallen over broken walkways three times and got covered in mud once. I have counted 120 police or traffic people on one trip," he wrote.

"The location is wildly not near anything. There is one road allowed for taxis with a queue of two miles plus going over a single-lane bridge."

Police told Times of Malta there were no incidents contributing to the traffic congestion on Tuesday.

However, a woman on Facebook reported that following an accident between Xemxija and Mellieħa, Qawra police told the people involved that they did not have officers to send to the site as resources were diverted to SiGMA.

Times of Malta was unable to confirm this claim.

'I was also stuck in traffic' - Chris Bonett

Transport Malta tried to avoid last year's traffic chaos by designating different pick-up and drop-off points for vans and minibuses, white taxis, black taxis, Y-plate cabs and limousines.

However, the plan was not entirely successful in preventing gridlock.

Transport Minister Chris Bonett addressed the issue in parliament on Wednesday morning, saying he "sympathised" with commuters who were stuck in traffic and that he, too, was one of them.

He also admitted the location of the event was "sensitive for traffic" but did not go as far as to suggest that it should be relocated to its original Ta' Qali location.

"I leave it to everyone to reach their own conclusion whether that location is appropriate or not," he said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry told Times of Malta it was committed to continuing its collaboration with TM, other public entities, and the event organizers to further refine the traffic management plan and minimise inconvenience to the public in future years.

Next year's event moved to September

The event organisers announced this week that next year's Central Europe conference will move to Milan in Italy, while Malta will host a Euro-Med festival in September.

It is unclear whether the September event - which will be held at the Malta Maritime Hub again - is a smaller or scaled-down version of the massive, continent-wide conference that has been organised in Malta every year for the past decade.

Jason Micallef, who is Labour's special delegate on the implementation of the electoral manifesto, weighed in on the issue on Wednesday afternoon. 

In a post to Facebook, he said people were right to feel frustrated about the traffic jams, but do not fully appreciate the value of a small country like Malta hosting a big conference like SiGMA because the government failed to clearly explain how beneficial it is to the economy. 

He also demanded that the government push the "hypocritical" PN to confirm whether it will keep SiGMA coming if elected to government, as people have a right to know what the opposition's policy is on such big events.