Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett yesterday said the government will stick to its guns and will not allow the industrial action ordered by the Public Transport Association in any way to slow down the public transport reform programme set by the government and agreed to by the PTA in a deal signed in October last year.

Mr Mugliett also said that the fact that the PTA made 10 of its employees redundant last Monday was nothing but “bluff”, adding that the government cannot accept a status quo situation or the PTA not budging from its position to slow down the reform process.

He said the government and the PTA had agreed to commission a report, termed the Halcrow report, to look into the operations of the public transport service in Malta.

He said it was agreed that discussions on the report would not take longer than 90 days from when the report is compiled. He said this meant that the deadline is 1 November.

When asked, Mr Mugliett said he was prepared to extend the deadline by a few days but certainly not three months as requested by the PTA.

The Malta Transport Authority (ADT) has embarked on a campaign called Emission Alert, through which it is calling on people to send an SMS with the registration number of the vehicles that are emitting too much fumes and the authority will then call these vehicles for an inspection.

ADT chief executive officer Gianfranco Selvagi said the system the authority had in place was “fool proof”. But when asked how the authority was going to ensure that it does not take action against owners of cars who may be victims of pranks, Mr Selvagi replied with a non-answer, saying he did not wish to divulge this information since he was inviting people to test out the authority’s system.

Mr Selvagi said it was indeed innovative that the authority was banking on the public’s help to enforce the law on emissions. He said Vodafone and go mobile users may send an SMS to number 5061 1899 with the registration number of the vehicle emitting excessive fumes. The authority will call the owner of the car for an inspection of the vehicle within three days. The test will be carried out at the Licensing and Testing Department in Floriana with specialised equipment purchased by the ADT.

If the vehicle fails the test, the owner will be fined Lm20 on the spot and then given one week to take the car to a mechanic to get it repaired. If after one week the vehicle still emits too much fumes, this may result in licence restrictions and further fines.

Mr Selvagi said the ADT has introduced roadside checks through its Enforcement Section. These carry out around 80 checks on vehicles and only an average of two cars fail this test.

On the causes of emissions, Mr Selvagi said this can be brought about by too much oil in the engine’s combustion chamber, faulty fuel systems, ignition problems, overloaded vehicles and diluted fuel. When asked about the type of fuel used in Malta and its quality, the ADT chief said the fuel was similar to that used in other countries, including Italy, and described the quality of the fuel as “perfect”.

He said emissions lead to an increased risk of cancer, the reduction of lung function in children, contribute to premature death in people with heart and lung disease and aggravate or bring about respiratory illnesses.

Mr Selvagi said in order to ensure that vehicles do not emit too much fumes, car owners must regularly maintain their vehicles with regular check-ups.

On his part, Roads and Urban Development Minister Jesmond Mugliett said the government was seriously considering introducing measures as an incentive for the importation of electric cars which would have an immensely positive impact on the country’s environment.

Mr Mugliett said from an average of 80 inspections carried out by the ADT’s Inspectorate Unit, only two were not passing this test. While saying that this inspection was not getting all the culprits, he said the ADT was receiving far more reports of vehicles which emit too much fumes.

The minister praised the SMS 4 Clean Air Campaign and expressed his hope that people will contribute and assist the authorities to eradicate those vehicles which are emitting too much smoke.

He confirmed that all vehicles, including heavy vehicles and government vehicles, will be subjected to this emissions test.