Another long hot summer is to be expected when the government pushes through its plans for a major overhaul in the public transport system.

We all remember the chaos that took place last July when the liberalisation of the hearses market was announced, with the remaining sectors of the public transport going up in arms and taking to the streets. They had even marched up to Castille as the strike paralysed Malta – only for the drivers to back down when the government showed resilience and came to terms with the hearses’ drivers.

We also remember the reaction of the public transport operators during the national conference held in December, during which they protested when they were given an overview of what the government intends to do.

Now that more details have been made public during a press conference given by Transport Minister Austin Gatt, and even more when the vast project that is being planned is effectively implemented, one expects that the drivers will once again resist the changes – or at least not take them lying down.

Addressing journalists, Dr Gatt said that the government is planning to amalgamate all authorities that are responsible for the different transport sectors into one “super agency”. The Malta Maritime Authority, the Malta Transport Authority, the Civil Aviation Department and the Malta Freeport Corporation will fall under one umbrella, and this is aimed to provide a better synergy and use of resources in the sector.

Secondly, the government is preparing the release of a tender for the whole of Malta’s transport system some time during the summer months. This is what Malta has been waiting for, because the need for a thorough shake-up of the sector has been felt for many years.

The efforts that have been carried out in the past never went beyond cosmetic changes, largely because the operators always resisted big moves. The price of tickets and the amount of subsidies increased on a regular basis with promises of a better service, but the clients started to pay more without really getting a better deal.

If there is a minister who is capable of grabbing the bull by the horns and come up with a comprehensive reform, that minister is Austin Gatt. If what is being planned fails again, then one wonders what can be done to give the Maltese and the many tourists who make use of public transport the service that they deserve.

Where the minister still has to prove his worth is the situation on our roads, which was another subject that was tackled during the press conference. We must admit that we have had a tough, rainy winter, and this exposed all the deficiencies of our roads. The patching up exercise that was taken up in the few days of mild weather we had was not enough, and the many potholes that dot our roads have made driving dangerous.

Dr Gatt has announced that a public private partnership is in the making, covering road building, repair and maintenance. This is expected to come into place next year. One however hopes that, in the meantime, there will be an exercise to repair the damage that has been caused to many of our arterial and residential roads.

There must also be an effort to improve the road network. There are still too many areas where traffic jams are the order of the day simply because the present junctions cannot cope with the amount of cars. As the number of cars on the road continues to grow, there must be a concerted effort to build new roads to enable a smoother flow of traffic, and to adjust existing ones to meet with the demand. An example that quickly comes to mind is the promised flyover at the Kappara roundabout.