Ministry accuses Muscat of 'defending monopolies'

The Infrastructure Ministry today accused Labour leader Joseph Muscat of ‘defending monopolies’.

Reacting to the Labour leader’s comments on the current dispute over public transport (see separate story), the ministry said the Labour leader was trying to make himself look good in the eyes of the operators and was defending monopolies while the government was removing a monopoly in one sector and discussing the possibility of doing the same for the others.

The ministry said it was clear in its principles.

The first was to encourage more people to use public transport. But to do so, public transport had to be efficient, attractive, and providing good value for money. Monopolies protected operators to the detriment of consumers.

The operators’ indifference to their passengers was reflected in their threat to strike, a decision with which, the ministry said, Dr Muscat had expressed sympathy. That the owners of hearses were prepared not to work as from Monday posed a threat to public safety and suffering to the relatives of the deceased.

Hardship would also be caused to workers as from Monday if bus owners went on strike.

The government was accused of lacking a strategy when the only proposal Dr Muscat had come out with would incentivise those who used diesel to use more because of lower prices, the ministry said.

.