The Maltese government gets first prize for sporadic proposals and ideas that are not well-planned, the latest being that of staggering the opening of school hours in an attempt to ease the traffic problems, shadow minister for transport Marthese Portelli said this morning.

Speaking at a press conference in Iklin, the Nationalist MP said that when Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil had proposed that public transport should be free of charge to all students, the government had laughed at the suggestion. But now, a few months later, it was making the same proposal.

The press conference was also addressed by PN spokesperson for education, Therese Comodini Cachia, who said that it is unacceptable that the government suggests the staggering of school hours to resolve the traffic problems. Students should not be made to wake up an hour earlier just because of the government's inefficiency in dealing with the issue. She said that this proposal by government came just weeks prior to students again beginning their scholastic year.

She explained that proposals must be discussed with stakeholders and not taken in the spur of the moment.

Traffic problems have deteriorated badly in the last two years, she said. Many parents opt not to send their children to school on transport provided by the school because it is expensive, there is not enough supervision and they are concerned about their children's safety.

She said that whenever government faces a problem, they immediately target students.