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Karl Schembri
Government’s controversial plans to launch the park and ride project for Valletta and Floriana have been stalled at tendering stage while the CCTV system announced last year may end up being scrapped altogether.
The park and ride scheme would be receiving its final touches in time for launch next month according to the original plans spelt out last year. But after extensive road works and new traffic lights in Blata l-Bajda, the development, which should be providing 950 new parking spaces and a shuttle service to and from Valletta, was frozen as two unsuccessful bidders for the project appealed to the arbitration centre.
“The Transport Authority cannot award the tender to an operator of the Park and Ride site for the time being while the Arbitration Centre is considering two appeals by unsuccessful bidders to the project,” said Emanuel Delia, the coordinator of the Cabinet committee in charge of the project, who could not give any new deadlines for the project given the ongoing arbitration.
“I’m not at liberty to disclose any further information regarding the content of the appeals made against the decision of the Authority at this stage,” he added.
Even the government’s grandiose plans to introduce timed parking in Valletta and Floriana with high tech cameras taking note of every car entering the capital and its suburb, instead of the V licence system, are indefinitely shelved.
“The Government has made proposals in a White Paper on the option to replace the V Licence system with a pay per use payment model,” Delia said. “A decision on whether to implement this proposal has not been taken.”
According to the original plan, in less than a month’s time, Valletta and Floriana should be armed with cameras clicking busily at every car entering and coming out of the two localities so that every driver staying more than 30 minutes receives a bill at home or on the mobile phone.
“The V licence system has collapsed,” Investments Minister Austin Gatt solemnly declared last year. “We want to make the capital accessible to everyone while getting people to pay for parking.”
The parking fares for the park and ride were supposed to be set at 60c for a whole day, with a shuttle service to and from Valletta every five minutes; although it is likely the flat rate would only apply for drivers parking before 8am.
The V licence system, which currently has 33,000 motorists authorised to drive through Valletta for Lm20 a year competing for the 3,000 legal parking spaces in the capital. Instead, drivers entering Valletta will pay an hourly 30c fee capped at Lm2.40, according to plans.
Commuters to Floriana would have been charged 20c an hour, capped at Lm1.80. On paper, cameras shall be installed from near the Customs Office, St Anne Street and Sa Maison hill leading to close to the Police Headquarters in Floriana.
According to Gatt 4,986 were registered as Valletta residents, meaning they had a free V licence, but he claimed 3,000 of them were abusive as they did not really live there.
“The new cameras will make it possible to check whether drivers were really parking in Valletta at night and sleeping there,” he had said.
Government however was faced with strong resistance to its plans from various quarters, ranging from the Valletta hawkers who would have to be relocated from their current streets to the Union Haddiema Maghqudin. The Floriana council had also vetoed the government’s CCTV proposal.
Asked what would happen to car owners who would have already paid their V licence if government ever gets down to deliver its CCTV project, Delia said: “Should it indeed be taken, transitory provisions would be introduced to ensure that anyone who pays the V Licence during its last 11 months of existence would be credited with any excess payment they would have made.”
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2005/09/18/t16.html
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2005/09/11/t3.html
http://www.miit.gov.mt/site/page.aspx?pageid=693
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