Shadow Minister Marthese Portelli today hit out at the government for not formulating any short-term measures to address Malta’s chronic traffic congestion.

Speaking in Parliament, Dr Portelli said the government has “no plan, no roadmap and no policy” when it comes to tackling the traffic problem.

“Traffic has reached saturation point, there is the need to immediately introduce short-term measures, and parallel work on medium and long-term measures.”

Acknowledging that mistakes may have been made in the past, Dr Portelli said “we are not in 2015 and politicians have a responsibility to govern better instead of blaming others.”

She said that traffic has increased over the past two years, and a number of measures proposed by the Labour government have yet to see the light of day.

She said the national traffic management plan, better coordination of road works and an improved public transport have all failed to appear.

Dr Portelli said traffic is a huge inconvenience to people and businesses, creating economic difficulties and reducing Malta’s competitivity.

No measures for improving the traffic congestion problem can be found in the 2016 budget, she said, apart from those related to fuel prices.

The Shadow Transport Minister also hit out at the public transport service, saying the subsidy to the service provider has tripled yet there have been no improvements in the service.

She highlighted a number of problems with the routes, overcrowded buses and malfunctioning Tal-linja cards.

She suggested incentivising businesses to provide transport to their workers, saying that involving the business community is vital.

She also called on the government to “lead by example,” suggesting that the government should invest in a transport system for civil service workers, many of whom travel from rural areas to Valletta. 

PN MP Charlo Bonnici argued that the public does not have faith in the public transport system due to the various systemic inefficiencies and defects.

He said it is important to not just “throw money at the problem,” expressing his belief that a good public transport system can be one of the solutions to traffic congestion. 

PN MP Toni Bezzina said people’s quality of life is no longer a priority for this government. He too questioned what has become of the government’s traffic management plan.

All road-users are suffering, he said.

Picking up on the public transport theme mentioned by his two previous, Mr Bezzina said when Labour was in Opposition it did its utmost to hinder the public transport reform by the previous government.

Two-and-a-half years down the line, there is no sign of the government much vaunted roadmap, he said.

He said the Opposition is going to start working on medium and long-term plans in order to solve for the traffic problem, so that is can hit the ground running in government. 

Summing up, PN MP Kristy Debono said the government is adding to the traffic crisis instead of solving it.

“It is clear that the more the government speaks the more it is frustrating people. Instead of solving the problem it is adding to it.”

She questioned whether the government has carried out any feasibility studies for underground tunnels to solve the traffic problem, and whether such projects have been costed.

She said the government has to seriously incentivise further use of bicycles, and should consider paying people per kilometre cycled.