Discussions are underway to drastically increase the fines for those caught using their mobile phones while driving, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Monday. 

He said this was one of the measures the authorities were considering to tackle a large number of accidents on Malta's roads.

He said he could not elaborate on the new fine because discussions were underway.

The fine currently stands at €100.

Speaking to Times of Malta, Abela excluded the possibility of introducing new taxes to discourage the use of private cars as a measure to reduce the number of cars on the roads.

He said he was more concerned about the number of accidents happening on a daily basis, so the government was looking at measures to increase sensibility among drivers and getting the message across that calling or texting while at the wheel was simply not on. 

He said he also looked forward to the increase of officers on the roads to act as a deterrent and to help with the flow of traffic. 

'Let institutions work': Abela on Marsa Junction project claims

Asked about fresh allegations of corruption in the Marsa Junction project, Abela said these claims were being investigated by the police and appealed to people to allow the institutions to do their work. 

Former Infrastructure Malta boss Fredrick Azzopardi has insisted he has nothing to hide after Arnold Cassola handed a cache of documents over to the police on Saturday claiming it contains evidence of corruption in the Marsa junction project.

Cassola said the evidence included an exchange between Azzopardi and alleged murder mastermind Yorgen Fenech.

Heir to the Tumas business empire, Fenech currently stands accused of complicity in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The texts, which Cassola said were sent in early 2019, have Fenech asking “x’tixtieq minn dik?” (what would you like from that?) to which Azzopardi replies “circa 45% of 11m”.

Contacted by Times of Malta, the former IM boss said the tendering process for the project preceded his appointment at the infrastructure agency and that the text messages referred to were related to invoicing.

Azzopardi said that Cassola was “either misleading or being misled”.

“This text message was sent in 2019, while the contract was adjudicated and awarded in 2018. This timeline rubbishes any claim that my correspondence with Fenech was related to the ‘negotiations for the project’, ‘the tendering process’ or ‘insider information’,” he said.

“The Marsa junction project contract was awarded through a public call for tenders by Transport Malta before I was transferred from Enemalta to fill the role of CEO at Infrastructure Malta. I was not involved in the Marsa contract’s tendering or adjudication.”

He challenged Cassola to publish the whole conversation, the context of which would show that it was a discussion about an invoicing issue between a contractor and a client.

In a statement on Sunday, Cassola pointed out that 45% of €11 million did not amount to circa €7 million, but to €4.95 million.

He also pointed out that in a WhatsApp conversation on January 9, 2019, Fenech asked Azzopardi "Dawk l-ewwel wiehed meta"?  "Taf"? Azzopardi answered immediately saying "Ghadda last week ta 2018. 7.4," Cassola claimed.

He said that, a few minutes later, Fenech sent an email to members of the Yildirim group in Turkey, informing them that the first payment relating to the Marsa Junction project had been made by the Government of Malta and that he now wanted his 20% of his success fee (€400,000).

Times of Malta revealed in October that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Yorgen Fenech’s involvement in the Marsa junction project, for which he was promised a €2 million success fee for his role as a middleman.