Roads Minister reacts to driving tests inquiry findings

The Minister for Urban Development and Roads, Jesmond Mugliett, said he does not fully agree - "specifically on two counts" - with some of the conclusions of a board of inquiry that criticised the Malta Transport Authority for not being proactive and decisive enough in dealing with allegations of abuse in the way driving tests were conducted.

He agreed, however, that the board's report "shows that the investigation was carried out in an exhaustive manner and left no stone unturned".

"I do not concur fully with the report's conclusion that between October 2005 and April of this year the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) took little action to address the matter," he said.

Mr Mugliett said that during the period mentioned, the ADT was pushing through a series of administrative reforms which involved the driving examiners' unit.

"Measures were being taken to strengthen the middle management which was directly responsible for the driving examinations. The procedures on how duties were assigned in Gozo were improved and an exercise to select an assistant manager for the unit also took place during this period.

"During this period, a wider exercise to strengthen the administrative set up of the entire authority was being carried out. The chief executive officer started introducing a system of internal reporting as well as appraisal procedures in all sections of the ADT at the end of last year."

The inquiry report concludes that the CEO did not give adequate weight to a traffic accident involving Nicolai Magrin (a driving instructor) in the decisions he took.

Mr Mugliett said: "I believe that the CEO was not fully aware of the nature of the accident and did not take heavier measures in this case because he wanted to give a second chance to an individual who was already plagued with several personal problems. One should also note that when the CEO acted, Mr Magrin had not yet been interrogated by the police on the bribery charges".

The minister said that since the tabling of the report in the House of Representatives on Monday, the permanent secretary at the ministry had drawn the attention of the Police Commissioner to the conclusions of the inquiry in the case of Mr Magrin.

"Since then I also had a discussion with the ADT's CEO and chairman on the report and its conclusions. I have also communicated with the ADT board of directors to forward its suggestions on how the ADT intends to address the shortcomings featuring in the report and how it proposes to implement the recommendations contained therein and any other measures it deems appropriate.

He said measures were taken to address the backlog of examinations that accrued in the past weeks due to the suspension of five examiners. Many temporary examiners were recruited giving a total throughput of up to 225 driving examinations per week, he explained.

"Other procedural changes were also introduced. Examiners are now getting to know the candidates that they have been allocated by lot just 10 minutes before the examinations start. The lot for candidates sitting for the test in Gozo is being drawn by the manager in the presence of the director of the Licensing and Testing Department. The lot is then placed in a sealed envelope which is opened in Gozo in the presence of two private individuals. Closer monitoring is also being performed at the theory testing centre," Mr Mugliett said.