New regulations will ban horse-drawn carriages from major arterial roads

The sight of sweat-soaked horses labouring to breathe in the height of summer as they canter along arterial roads is set to become a thing of the past, as the result of a series of measures being drafted.

Horse-drawn carriages will be banned from major arterial roads and will not be permitted at all between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. during the summer months.

A draft of the 16-page regulations obtained by The Times shows that the authorities are determined to bring some order to what is widely perceived as an unregulated sector.

The regulations for 'animal drawn vehicles' are being drawn up by an Animal Welfare Council sub-committee, in conjunction with the Malta Transport Authority.

The sub-committee comprises vets and members from the animal rights coalition.

The proposals have been forwarded to the council, will be passed on to the main welfare committee and finally to Environment Minister George Pullicino for the seal of approval.

The council hopes to implement the regulations by the beginning of summer. A copy of the draft regulations was last week sent to the General Workers' Union as representative of horse-drawn cab owners.

The new policy would effectively also seal the fate of horse racing on public roads.

The regulations have taken into account the calls of animal welfare organisations and the transport authorities, which have been receiving complaints from disgruntled motorists over the years.

Among others, the regulations stipulate that no person shall drive an animal-drawn carriage at dark without wearing reflective strips or a reflective vest.

Every animal-drawn vehicle to be used on a public road will have to be registered with the authority and will be allotted an identification number plate.

Licences may be revoked or suspended by the authority if the owner fails to comply with the regulations.

Light two-wheeled vehicles drawn by a horse (serkini, sulkies) and horse-driven cabs (xarretti) will not be permitted to circulate in several arterial and distributor roads.

Specific routes are being mapped out to ensure horse-drawn carriages do not operate on major roads, such as St Anne Street in Floriana, and Msida Creek.

The regulations also lay down that the driver of an animal, whether ridden or drawing a carriage, will keep all carriage stands and roads clean and free of excrement.

The owner or driver of the carriage will have to ensure that saddle, harness, shoes, bridle and other equipment fit properly and are in good working condition.

Fines vary from Lm10 for the first offence with subsequent offences increasing by an increment of Lm15.

Karozzini may only be hired from a carriage stand, each of which should have a water service. There are an estimated 65 karozzini in Malta.

If inspections show that a carriage is unsafe, unclean or unsightly, the authority may order it to be taken out of service until its condition is corrected.

Discussions are going on to ensure that all horses are insured and to eliminate the anomaly that horse owners are not accountable for any accidents that may crop up.

An accident in Hamrun involving a runaway horse some years ago left the owners of 15 damaged cars with no option but to pay for the damage out of their own pocket.