Transport operators threaten to paralyse country

Talk by Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt about the need for radical reform in the regulation of coaches, taxis, hearses and other means of transport drew a strong reaction from the Transport Federation (ATP) which even threatened to paralyse these islands through a general public transport stoppage.

The federation also called on Dr Gatt to immediately withdraw his proposal to the Cabinet to "liberalise" the sectors.

But in a strongly-worded counter-statement, the Infrastructure Ministry denied that Dr Gatt had made such a proposal, adding that the type of language used by the ATP showed that operators had unjustifiable expectations.

The ministry said the ATP should understand that the government would not condition its policies according to threats it receives, such as the one made by the federation yesterday.

The ATP referred to "the proposal made by Minister Austin Gatt in Cabinet last week calling for the liberalisation of the market in connection with hearses, taxis, tourist coaches and other sectors of public transport, which he did not mention by name".

Insisting that the minister should withdraw the proposal, the ATP said no official meetings had been held with the associations concerned or with the federation, which represented them, and, therefore, the federation could not understand how the minister could pass judgment on the present situation in the transport sector.

"The federation warns the minister that it will not tolerate gambling with the livelihoods of operators in the sector and thousands of families involved in the public sector as he has done with other sectors of workers."

The federation said it wished the Prime Minister to know that if he wanted to avoid a total paralysis of public transport through a general stoppage, he should not permit such arrogance by some of his ministers.

The ATP will be holding an urgent meeting for members tomorrow to discuss the situation.

The Ministry said it is customary that whatever is proposed in the Cabinet remains confidential. However, it was a "total invention" that on the day indicated by the ATP or any other day, Dr Gatt had made a proposal to the Cabinet regarding coaches or taxis.

The ministry said that the Association of Hearse Owners had requested a meeting with Dr Gatt and, when the meeting was held, both sides agreed that the minister would seek direction from the Cabinet over the sector.

The ministry said the view expressed publicly by Dr Gatt over the transport sector is that a monopoly and central economic control should be avoided in principle and would only be acceptable when it is evident that an open market would not be in the interest of the consumer.

Moreover, the government's primary obligation was towards the users or potential users of public transport and not towards those who today operated the sector.

Thirdly, the ministry added, the quality of the service in different sectors of public transport did not meet the reasonable expectations of the public and, therefore, a radical reform was necessary.

There is no doubt that, when the government decided what direction it should take, its implementation would be carried out following effective consultation with all those interested. But no operator who today is protected by market restrictions had the right to expect a veto on initiatives taken in the interest of users or potential users of public transport, the ministry added.

Dr Gatt spoke in Parliament last week on the need for change in the Malta Transport Authority's (ADT) regulatory framework. Systems were not backed by anything in writing and led to suspicion and the market economy in such cases worked in reverse because many were selling their licences at exorbitant prices, the minister said.