[WATCH] Mizzi announces plans to extend ferry services to all Three Cities

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Transport minister Joe Mizzi said that ferry services to Valletta would expand throughout the Three Cities, with tenders for the project's extension to Senglea being issued in the coming weeks.

Speaking at a consultation with 60 school children from primary schools in Vittoriosa, Cospicua and Senglea, Mizzi explained the importance of living an environmentally friendly lifestyle 

The schoolchildren then participated in a number of activities about road safety and cleansing. 

Mizzi spoke about the importance of using advanced technology to travel in a more environmentally friendly way. 

“We need to start educating people on the use of electric cars and cars that run on LNG,” he said, explaining to the children that the government was also providing incentives to encourage members of the public to use these vehicles. 

Mizzi also explained the importance of road safety and of respecting other drivers, by following regulations and not drinking and driving. He added that it was important to promote correct road behaviour at an early age so that these rules became second nature. 

The minister also spoke about the importance of respecting the environment and keeping our surroundings clean and explained that many initiatives had been put in place to ensure that people could discard of rubbish correctly. He further encouraged the pupils to go ahead and correct adults if they saw them disposing of rubbish where they shouldn't. 

Answering questions from the children, Mizzi said that more security is needed in the vicinity of schools to ensure more safety for children as they crossed the roads. He added that the government planned to introduce the idea of traffic marshalls, particularly in the areas near schools, to increase safety and prevent accidents. 

Other students voiced their concerns about the disrespect for rules by some road users who parked on spaces designated for electric car charging or on bus stops. Mizzi explained that buses would soon be equipped with a camera to photograph any cars that stop on bus stops unlawfully to then issue a fine. 

Students complained of the lack of punctuatlity of ublic transport, and Mizzi said that the next step after the introduction of new bus routes, for public transport was to increase the frequency of buses and an IT system to provide mobile phone users with information about the location of the vehicles.

Mizzi also said that the new bus routes would be introduced in the coming weeks, and that many would benefit the three cities and increase connectivity.