PN claims Muscat ‘blaming the public’ for traffic problems

The Nationalist Party has accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of shifting the blame for Malta’s traffic problems onto the public.

“Muscat’s excuse for not reducing fuel prices is because he wants the people to drive less frequently,” shadow transport minister Marthese Portelli said in a statement. “This is an unfair argument, because it will mean that the people are paying for the government’s incompetency.”

The debate goes back to Tuesday during an impromptu parliamentary debate on traffic. During his speech, Muscat took a jibe at Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, claiming that his counterpart’s only proposal for Malta’s notorious traffic problem was to reduce fuel prices.

The Prime Minister said that traffic will probably increase if fuel prices are lowered, but reiterated his commitment to such a price reduction nevertheless.

“The government must immediately reduce fuel prices so as to reflect the current market price of oil, as other EU countries have done,” Portelli said.

Crude oil prices climbed to over $48 per barrel on Thursday, up from under $45 a week ago.  

She called on transport minister Joe Mizzi to “shoulder political responsibility for his failures in traffic management and public transport reform.

“Although traffic was a problem before Labour’s election to government, it has escalated in recent months and drivers often spend over an hour stuck in traffic.” 

She quoted Muscat who had said during Labour’s pre-election campaign that he has a “clear plan for traffic management, that includes public transport”.

“It is clear now that he was taking the public for a ride, as he has failed in both traffic management and public transport.”