Wardens told to lay stress on educating motorists

Local wardens in a number of localities will be working additional hours with the specific aim of educating motorists on traffic regulations.

The additional work is an initiative of the Joint Committee for Law Enforcement made up of the local councils of Gzira, Pembroke, St Julians, San Gwann, Sliema, Swieqi and Ta' Xbiex.

Joint Committee chairman Joe Borg emphasised that this campaign does not mean that local wardens are not enforcing the laws. What will happen is that certain hours of service have been added on, whereby the wardens on the streets throughout March will be educating defaulting drivers rather than enforcing regulations by issuing tickets.

"It is a process of education that is being done over a period of time in order to educate drivers further with regard to traffic regulations," Mr Borg said.

The warden agency has also participated in the scheme by offering the additional hours at an "extremely" reduced rate, thus allowing the local councils to maximise on such educational schemes.

The campaign will last until the end of March, followed by an evaluation exercise to measure its success, Mr Borg said.