About four years ago I became unemployed. A friend of mine gave me the idea to start operating a taxi. I went and applied to get a ‘tag’ at the ADT, attended a course and acquired the ‘tag’. My friend introduced me to a taxi owner. I bought the vehicle and paid the owner a weekly rent.

I work seven days a week from mid-May to the end of October. During those months I work as hard as I can, managing to save some money. When winter comes work is not very good and on certain days it is next to nothing. But I am quite happy doing this work because I manage to make a decent living.

Part of my work during the weekends is with Maltese youngsters from Paceville. I have a group of four youths whom I take from Marsascala to Paceville at about 10pm, and then I take them back about 4am and drop them off all by their door. I do a lot of other trips with Maltese youngsters at weekends.

Now the government has decided to issue taxi permits on the pretext of liberalisation. Now I should be pleased because I can get a permit and stop paying rent. But what good is a permit for me when there are going to be another 700 with me? I won’t even manage to make ends meet. To add insult to injury it is being proposed that taxis will be eight seater, meaning a van, and that I have to fork out about e50,000, which I don’t have.

Minister Austin Gatt is saying that he wants to consult the public, at the same time he makes statements and gives interviews to the media showing us that he has his mind made up and all this consultation is a joke.

Chris Falzon

Dingli