PN urges government to draft long-term effective plan on traffic

The Nationalist Party has blamed the government for the increased traffic jams being experienced by commuters on Maltese roads.

Yesterday, commuters reported long traffic jams as a result of the gridlock generated by the full closure of the Coast Road due to the ongoing roadworks project.

The situation appeared to have clamed down this morning although delays were experienced through the Naxxar bypass.

“The current mess being experienced on Maltese roads is a result of the gross incompetence of this Labour Government led by Muscat, with the past days seeing the north of Malta literally jammed,” PN MPs Marthese Portelli, Claudio Grech, Ryan Callus and Antoine Borg said in a joint statement.

“Whilst it is a fact that traffic congestion wasn't conceived when Labour came into power, it is also a fact that situation is becoming worse by the day.  Decisions being taken by the current administration aren't helping at all, but are simply making the situation worse.”

The PN said it emphatised with “all hurdles and inconvenience being faced by commuters - in particular with those who are arriving late for work, those who are missing scheduled appointments, as well as those people whose job requires that they are on the road such as salespeople, deliverymen, technicians, taxi/bus/minibus drivers and many others”. 

The Opposition said it also empathized with the tourism industry which “is definitely effected negatively whenever such chaos ensues”.

It urged the government to draw up on a long-term effective plan, instead of finding stop-gap solution and management by crisis.

“This whole Mizzi saga is not only Joe Mizzi's to solve, but it is also Konrad's Mizzi's. Going from one destination to another is taking much longer than it used to. Whilst stuck in traffic, drivers see the fuel gauge drop lower and lower, and this when Malta's fuel prices are amongst the highest in the EU.

“This is not an issue to be placed on the back-burner.  Government must give it immediate attention and rather than finding stop-gap solutions and managing by crisis, Government should draw up a long-term effective plan.”