Government spending on the roads will fall significantly next year, according to the budget estimates, and there will be a substantial increase in outlay on public transport following the announcement of a free bus service for Malta residents from October 1.
Official figures show that Infrastructure Malta, which handles road works, is being handed €85.5 million for capital expenditure next year from €103 million this year.
EU funds for the roads will rise to €31.1m from just over €30m last year. €1.1 million from the EU funds in the national recovery and resilience plan will go for renewable energy in street lighting.
Questioned during a budget briefing for the media on Monday, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said there had been an overspend on the roads and matters will be levelled out in 2022.
The public service obligation on public transport will rise from €33.1 million this year to €38 million next year. Expenditure on the Tal-Linja card will rise to €8.6 million from the current €3.8 million. That would appear to account for the announcement made in the budget speech that the bus service will be free for all local residents, holders of the Tal-Linja card, from October 1.
There is also a €2 million increase in subsidies on inter-island transport, to €10 million.
Revenue on car registrations to drop
Some features of the financial estimates still have to be explained.
For example, revenue from motor vehicle registration tax is projected to fall to €40 million next year from €44 million this year. That could be a result of a decrease in the importation of second-hand cars which has been evident since costs rose with Brexit, since most used cars used to be imported from the UK.
The figures show that the projected spend on the grant for electric bicycles and motorcycles will fall to €70,000 from €200,000 this year.
But €120,000 are being allocated for a ‘repowering for electric drive’ and €100,000 for vehicle retrofitting. The government in the budget speech announced a scheme to assist contractors to convert their heavy vehicles to cleaner engines.
Funds to be used for the grant to encourage people to buy electric vehicles will rise by €1 million to €3.5m. In the budget the finance minister said those who opt for electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles and scrap their old cars can benefit from grants of up to €12,000.
Yet, spending on the scrappage scheme is projected to go down to €500,000 from the current €1.5m.
Spending on the Autogas conversion scheme to encourage people to convert their car engines to run on gas, will drop to €60,000 from €250,000 this year.
Spending on a national marine pollution contingency plan will rise to €450,000 from €300,000 now.
Spending on capital projects will see €10 million go for the Ta’ Qali national park, up from €3 million this year.
€400,000 will go for the Għadira Bay extension, half of what is being allocated for the Corradino Rugby complex.
Plans to extend the bay were first announced by then Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi in the summer of 2018. In May last year, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and Infrastructure minister Ian Borg said a regeneration project for the popular bay would cost €2 million.