Enough is enough

I have followed with some amusement, but also with some consternation, the controversy about the devolution of the administration of the car park in Pietà to the Pietà local council.

I would have thought that the occasion would have been welcomed by all and sundry, given the level of disservice that was being given at the car park.

I would have thought that the council would have been congratulated and applauded for its achievement in being granted the administration of the car park because, let`s face it, this was a milestone in the history of local councils.

This was the first occasion that a local council was given the responsibility to administer a car park as part of its plans to improve and upgrade the traffic management system within the locality. However, to my complete and utter surprise, the issue was hijacked by the unions who are claiming that their members have a God-given right to use the car park and pay 10 cents for a whole eight- or 12-hour shift.

Recently, in this newspaper, I was branded a newcomer to the Maltese political scene. I admit that I am a relative newcomer and, as a newcomer, I am willing to learn and be taught. However, I cannot tolerate reading or listening to half-baked arguments that are put forward to cover up a hidden agenda. The facts of this issue show a different story to the one being touted.

Anybody who has run the risk of using the car park in the past knows that there were no facilities normally available in other professionally-run car parks. There was no lighting, no fire fighting equipment, no security - nothing. The car park was a dump, a haven for drug addicts and criminals.

The unions are claiming that their members used to pay the car park attendant 10c to park their cars. As everybody knows this is utter rubbish. The council has received reports of cars being deliberately damaged, tyres slashed and fuel stolen. We also know of incidents of violence. This is what led the council to apply for the devolution of the administration of the car park.

The facts show that the unions` stance is misleading and riddled with fallacies.

The parking fee was not increased from 10 cents to 35 cents. The so-called car park was just an open space on two floors that was used to park cars haphazardly at their owners` risk. There were no facilities. The parking attendant, like all parking attendants do, demanded payment ranging from 25c to 50c, although he had no right to do so.

Nobody has a God-given right to park for free in the car park, because it is a private property leased to the Pietà local council. Nobody has a right to stipulate what amount he or she wants to pay for the service offered in the Pietà car park.

It is up to the council to set the rates applicable for the use of its property and the services offered thereat. Parking is not a social service, even though there are some, who for reasons of their own, have equated parking with the health service or with compulsory education.

It was the health division, within the ministry of health, that insisted on preferential rates for St Luke`s Hospital staff. Let`s be realistic, 30c plus VAT is a pittance to pay for a supervised, professionally run car park. No other car park in Malta offers a large part of its parking capacity for 35c for a whole day.

Now let me make myself very clear, and I`m afraid this is going to be a bombshell. In the event that the health division gives in to the unions` demands and accepts to subsidise parking fees for hospital staff in the Pietà car park, such subsidy shall have to be on the full commercial rate and not on the already subsidised current rate of 30c plus VAT.

The subsidy that we have granted hospital employees has been granted at the expense of all the residents of Pietà and Guardamangia because any profit that the council makes on the car park is to be ploughed back into the locality in the form of services, reconstruction of roads and pavements etc., for the benefit of our residents.

It would be utterly irresponsible for the council to operate the Pietà car park at a loss because it would mean burdening the residents of Pietà and Guardamangia and effectively reducing the services that the council is legally and morally bound to provide. The council is determined that it will never allow this to happen. It will charge a reasonable fee from anybody who wishes to make use of the services of the Pietà car park.

Commuters have a choice. If they want to avail themselves of the services of an organised and controlled car park, they will have to pay for such service. There are no free lunches. If, on the other hand, they want to park their cars on the road or in a dump, then obviously they can do so at no charge.

The decision has been taken and it is immutable. The Pietà local council is now responsible for the administration of the Pietà car park and it will carry out its responsibility to the full, without further burdening the locality. In the immortal words of a prominent union leader - issa daqshekk!