I wish to comment on three matters which I think are of vital importance to our country. I believe that corruption and tax evasion, which are inexorably linked, must one day be seriously tackled. Our ever-increasing traffic problem must not be allowed to spiral out of control. If this were to happen, we will soon reach gridlock and we shall inevitably all become stuck in never-ending traffic jams.

Fifteen years ago, in September 2007, I had submitted a Talking Point advocating the provision of state funding to political parties while simultaneously making it a criminal offence to make donations to politicians and political parties. The arguments I raised then are still valid today and, if anything, the situation has worsened.

I shall give an example which everybody will understand. A big businessperson/contractor or a self-employed person, for that matter, makes a sizeable donation, sometimes running into millions, prior to a general election on the pretext of “helping” the party or politician he/she backs.

If this party is eventually elected to government, the donor might/would put pressure on the party or politician to obtain a permit that should not have been granted or else expect some other favour like the closing of one or both eyes to rampant evasion of tax and VAT. I have also heard of donations being made by the same person/company to both parties in order “to hedge their bet”.

According to a report recently published by the National Audit Office, the government is chasing arrears of €422 million in taxes owed to the state. This figure grows exponentially if one includes revenues from VAT, with a staggering €4.5 billion of fines remaining unpaid. Our national VAT compliance gap of 24 per cent of VAT revenues means we only collect 76 per cent of what is due. Italy collects 79 per cent while Romania collects only 64 per cent.

I have heard of donations being made by the same person/company to both parties in order ‘to hedge their bet’- Tony Zammit Cutajar

This is unsustainable. I have heard every prime minister and finance minister in my lifetime solemnly declare after each election that serious efforts will be made to curb abuses but truly little is ever done.

We Maltese surely love our cars and I am in no way suggesting that we curtail their ownership. We must however realise that if we keep increasing the number of registrations at the present rate, then, perhaps, we must look at the possibility of curtailing their use.

Is everybody aware that there are 422,000 vehicles registered in Malta as at end of September 2022, which equates to 786 units per 1,000 persons? Registrations are averaging about 60 units every day so that the number of vehicles is increasing at the staggering rate of approximately 18,000 annually.

The Joseph Muscat Labour government embarked on a €700 million road-improvement programme over a 10-year period that I believe is nearing its end. Did this improve matters? While I admit that we have better arterial roads, I do not think we have found a lasting solution. This programme and the increase of our population by 100,000 persons over the past 10 years has exacerbated the problem.

Furthermore, many of these new ‘highways’ have provided a racetrack for drivers and the death rate from traffic accidents is at an all-time high. This issue should not be politicised and it calls for national consensus and I dare say a certain sacrifice by all of us without distinction. I am no traffic expert but, surely, we can devise a system that by “rationing car use” would reduce the number of cars on the road at any one time.

Many people are calling for the building of a mass transport system but can the country afford the gigantic investment requirement? Furthermore, I have doubts that, unless the destination that we require is close to a station, most of us would continue to use their own car as the preferred mode of transport.

Tony Zammit Cutajar is a retired businessperson and a former Norwegian consul general.