Update 4: Roads 'to be transferred to private sector' - Labour reaction

J Martinelli

Mar 14th 2009, 23:20

Some say our roads are a disaster - nothing has been done in the last several years - that newly constructed roads are not good enough etc. What they are really saying is that the old way of doing business was not good enough, whether one agrees or not is immaterial.

Now that Austin Gatt realizes that continuing as usual is not good enough, comes opposition from the usual LE sources, fearing too much power for the 'contractor', that such an idea was not included in the NP election programme, that nothing was set aside in the last budget, and another hundred and one excuses.

So, why not wait another four years of awful roads so that this item can be included in the election promises of 2013? I doubt whether this idea would ever be embraced by the LP and even if it were, there is no guarantee that it will be included in their election manifesto since their 'computer' is prone to leave items out, insert other projects which are already instituted or worse, include items which the Party never intended to do.

The LP is already scaring people by the very mention of 'toll roads'! Nothing changes.

Joe Galea F

Mar 14th 2009, 21:45

Our 2nd prime minister Agostino Pio has just confirmed that this government failed miserably also on this matter (ROADS). I remember in one budget presented by EFA, that the latter said his government was raising the licences to give us better roads. The licences went up soon after but the roads deteriorated. So I ask...where did the money go?

V.Micallef

Mar 14th 2009, 15:33

"Don't you know that the councils are there are as a buffer for the government's. There's nothing better than having someone to blame when you're incompetent."

Couldn't have put it in better words!

J Oatmon

Mar 14th 2009, 13:47

This scheme to have a contractor build and maintain the roads, can only work well if the conbtractor is an 'international stanbdards contractor' using modern techniques and equipment to carry out the properly designed and 'fit for purpose' construction work, in the correct manner.
If it is the usual 'free for all of the local contractors' dividing it up amongst themselves - we shall end up with poor quality roads, poorly maintained, and with everyone pointing their finger at every one else - and no one accepting responsibity - the usual nightmare.

Liam Kelly

Mar 14th 2009, 10:59

@ J Micallef

The catch is that the whole ethos of a PPP agreement is that the government is binded to a long term agreement to line the pockets of private sector fat cats for providing a service now, and then the government paying for it fully in twenty years time @ extortionate interest rates plus many many hidden 'extras'.

Obviously we dont know all the details just now; but the sentance 'guaranteed income for the contractor is leveraged in order to ensure that works are executed in the initial part of the contract and paid for in the later part thereof' is ominous.

Austin, i urge you to look at the state of the finance sector worldwide at the moment; banks crippled by over-valueing the loan market which comprised of people who dont have the means to pay back risky, short sighted and irresponsible loans; motivated by a have now, pay later culture.

My advice is; do the job only if you can afford it and do it well. By all means involve the private sector in some shape or form for efficiency, but dont give into greed by the lure of short termism.

victor vella

Mar 14th 2009, 09:31

Ah now we get a clearer picture, the first report did was not so clear.Yes this is somthing I agree with, besides the local system where the local contractors work under the usual tender scheme is causing most of the problems , but it is not the whole picture.I invite Dr Gatt with all respect, to do trial holes in recently bult roads and check that the material used is of the standard required, then if it is not severe criminal action should be taken against the , Person in charge of the project from ADT , the architect, the testing company and the contractor himself, and please no lenghty court proceedings, a sentence guilty or innocent as may be withen 30 days of the results, only then can we have somthing going.I ask this, how can a contractor bid for a pavement surface at below the cost of the concrete grade requested in the contract, and do the work properly?

Joe Fenech

Mar 14th 2009, 08:24

Mr J Aquilina:

Don't you know that the councils are there are as a buffer for the government's. There's nothing better than having someone to blame when you're incompetent.

philip pace

Mar 14th 2009, 08:21

May I remind the Road Minister Austin Gatt that in the 70's there was band playing in Malta at the Casino who sang about somebody would fill the pot holes in road.
The name of the band was The Medium Wave Band. The song 'Malta Calypso'.
So many years have passed, so many ministers sat on their behind doing absolutely zilch, so many so called experts, so many futile reports, so much money spent uselessly, a lot of empty talk from the same ministers, so much unproductive replanning and yes Minister, the situation has not changed!
What's your excuse?

Mario Mizzi

Mar 14th 2009, 01:52

25 year contract ??? Given to one contractor ??? for ALL the roads in Malta ??? - Crazy !!

Maybe, 4 contractors, (1 for Gozo and at least 3 for Malta) on a 5 year contract would make it sound more gullible. Extension for contracts should be judged according to quality & results.

After five years the government would have got the feeler, and act wisely for the following five years.

Anthony PACE GOUDER

Mar 13th 2009, 21:39

If I am not mistaken the Minister seems to be always referring to a CONTRACTOR and not contractors ! in this proposed unrealistic scheme . Therefore , I PREDICT very strong opposition from the VARIOUS parties involved . Moreover the Minister's pronouncement that the CURRENT standard IS UNACCEPTABLE and intends to issue an international contract is a rejection of local road building contractors FOR FOREIGN ONES.
Whoever the Prospective Contractor (OR A CONSORTIUM) might be , HE/THEY will have a 25 YEAR GUARANTEED INCOME and any new road comissioned during this period will every time renew THE 25 year period ., IN ETERNUM ? Very convenient indeed !!!!. Is this how its going to work ? Hope i'm wrong as this constitutes a monopoly unacceptable to the EU . The holding Company / consortium can always engage sub-contractors at her mercy. This SETUP could also be a parastatal company in DISGUISE , as ALL THE FINANCING will be forked out from EU funds and the STATE coffers. With all this in mind the MINISTRY, thro' the Treasury , will have the advantage of paying up ROAD WORKS in instalments (x 25) and ample time to retrieve cash from BRUSSELS.

Alfred Cassar

Mar 13th 2009, 20:27

If this means another PPP (Public Private partnership) like the one for landscaping of roundabouts etc, this might be a success. However I would prefer a foreign contractor as the local ones have proved that they are are not up to standard, or else they use inferior quality materials. A lot of comments here are non-sense, that's why we do not make any progress in Malta in many important matters. We politicise every single matter of importance for our country, whether it's health, education, environment, roads, illegal immigration and so on. Let's be mature for once, PN, PL, AD etc let's work together to make some progress in this country.

silvio farrugia

Mar 13th 2009, 19:20

The labour party was also against the establishment of a private contractor for planting trees and plants in roundabouts etc.No doubt they will be against this.Socialism is about everything under the government even though state corporations do not deliver.

Ruth Grima Baldacchino

Mar 13th 2009, 15:56

I just want what I voted for - a government who promised less taxes. It seems these measures which I cannot find the electoral manifest were not there. So please stop talking about private roads, better access to Valletta with bigger and warmer seats in parliament for both parties and a privitised public transport. Just give us plain less taxes and the right reforms for the benefit of our children. It would be better if gov focused on the education reform which is taking ages. When will my son benefit from this reform, when he is over and done with school? So less power to the private sector (and yes less money as well). We do not want to pay more. That was the promise we voted for. Now keep it.

J Aquilina

Mar 13th 2009, 15:44

Good, so up until now we had local councils and Government fighting on the ownership of the road and who should resurface it. Now we will add to that the private sector.

This solutions means more fights on roads not well surfaced and those which need no surfacing being surfaced because heqqq that means more money paid from government emmm no sorry by you dear reader!!!!!

U mhux hekk dear prime number 2.... whom are we trying to please now? Government should be renamed as the 'cash cow'

laurence schembri

Mar 13th 2009, 15:34

You don`t get it you lot, once the the maintenance is passed to a private contractor nobody can point a finger at Austin. Who`s a clever boy then.

George Abela

Mar 13th 2009, 15:32

A PN minister using the word "Partnership".....

Too funny

r ferriggi

Mar 13th 2009, 14:32

il poplu kollu jistenna ftit iktar serjeta fid dipartiment tat toroq ghax issa estremita.

certi affarijiet kulhadd jinnothom.

din li fit 2009 it toroq taghna huma dizastru tirrifletti hazin fuq it tmexxija ta dawn lahhar snin.

nisperaw li il kuntraturi mhux jieklu il kejk biss. u il poplu ihallas u jibqa btoroq medjokri.

J Debono

Mar 13th 2009, 14:19

I feel that some contractors have some form of power are let to run riot and do what they like, hence cutting corners to make more money and adding on works that was not originally tendered for.
End result is that the tax payer ends up coughing up!

So who will be inspecting the independent contractor's work?

A Pace Gouder

Mar 13th 2009, 11:01

The amount of ideas , projects , proposals and developments lately released by Minister Austin Gatt are remarkable , and this definately places him TOPS as the most dynamic .
BUT....... !! There seems to be A NEW STYLE in the way decisions are being taken , as most of these proposals etc. etc. were never mentioned in the budget or the electoral programme . More surprising are the remarks :- " current standard of the roads unacceptable" --- "long term solution... " -- "normal 25 year lifetime" ? ? ? --- "contract published internationally" . An admission of FAILURE and certified incompetance on the road builders. A LL THIS CAN BE JUSTIFIED ! JUST GO TO ST.ANDREWS / PEMBROKE OR SOME EX-BRITISH SERVICES.BASE . THE ROADS ARE STILL WEARING THE SAME ORIGINAL SURFACE LAID OVER 60 YEARS AGO ,AND STILL IN GOOD CONDITION . IN LIBYA ROADS BUILT OVER 35 YEARS AGO , BY GERMAN CONTRACTORS , ARE IN IMMACULATE CONDITION ALTHOUGH ENDURING THE HARSH EXTREMES IN TEMPERATURE & DESERT CONDITIONS. MINISTER TAKE NOTE .
.


.

This is a clear

Alex Borg

Mar 13th 2009, 09:28

It's amazing how we manage to make a political issue out of anything. Should we really care who should be responsible for the maintenance and condition of our roads? All we know so far is that those responsible have failed miserably and let the situation worsen. ADT our country's traffic controllers only cares about means of sucking up as much money in whatever way possible without having any responsibility towards road safety. Comparing our system to that of the UK or Germany is really a laughing matter. There is probably someone in govt. employed with a healthy salary to decide how to improve our farce of a road setup. All I care about is that our roads become drivable...who and how is not my issue, but somehow the authorities that are so efficient in getting all payments due to them should certainly be involved.

TRW O'Neill

Mar 13th 2009, 09:28

What amazes me is that contractors do not even try to hide bad work methods, because they are so sure of getting away with them.!

Ronald Cauchi

Mar 13th 2009, 09:24

I hope the policy to be used is not the same as was used when the road at Burmarrad was built. There the contractor who built it was supposed to be responsible for its upkeep for a number of years.Manholes started sinking from the word go and by now all are two or three inches below road levels. There are blobs of concrete that fall off concrete mixers that make a ride up the hill to Mosta a bumpy affair which of course have never been or will ever be scraped off!
I guess this is another case of feathering the nests of "blue eyed boys" by giving them a regular sinecure and of course shedding every responsibilty for road maintenance.

r.Lewis

Mar 13th 2009, 08:53

Roads to be transferred to private sector. But still the same work is going to be carried out by the same contractors and same material, so nothing new is going to happen. Therefor the problem is with managerial heads, they are put there because of their colour and not because of their experience. The Minister, if he really means business should make heads responsable or otherwise make them resign, after all this is our money. Chairman of ADT, is also CEO of Datatrek, and more speed cameras installed, and speed limit down to 60kph. And he comes on TV and tell us that only a very small amount of the fines go to the Company he works with. A small amount on a large amount is a lot. Hawwadni ha nifhem.

Joe Scerri

Mar 13th 2009, 08:46

"the current standard of the road network being unacceptable"

Did it have to take 22 years to realise this?
Had action been taken from day 1 then we would not be in this mess. Road contractors have been allowed to make millions out of taxpayers money and gave us crap in return.

Jonathan Schembri

Mar 13th 2009, 08:43

How about we privatize your ministry Mr Gatt? Or should we say your empire? Is the government done squeezing us?

V.Micallef

Mar 13th 2009, 08:24

What are we waiting to transfer the whole government to the "private sector"? Or are we already there in all but in name? Wake up, folks, we are paying our taxes (in)directly to the private sector and the private sector holds no elections.

Michael Neville Cassar

Mar 13th 2009, 06:23

Money No Problem now we know who and what .An island for the rich, to get richer may I ask where is everybody today? and where is the opposition. What has happen to the Millions of Maltese Lire that car owners paid?

A Pace Gouder

Mar 13th 2009, 04:03

YET ANOTHER ATTEMPT FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO SHED OFF AND PLACE THE BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY (?) ON SOMEONE ELSES SHOULDER. AS AN EXAMPLE ,TAKE THE LOCAL COUNCILS. IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG THEY ARE TO BLAME . WHEN ITS GOOD THE GOVERNMENT GENERALLY GETS THE CREDIT.
THE MINISTRY WILL JUST DICTATE BY PLAYING A MANAGERIAL POSITION , ACCEPT THE FINISHED WORKS / PROJECT AND FORK OUT THE PAYMENTS .

J Micallef

Mar 12th 2009, 23:00

Ok, Austin.... where's the catch? More speed cameras on the horizon....

D Zammit

Mar 12th 2009, 22:19

Something similar to ELC.........I Like.....Please go ahead

Jeffrey Mallia

Mar 12th 2009, 22:04

Program elettorali PN 1987..........yes 1987 22 years ago...........TOROQ BLA HOFOR. A promise by the Hon Dr Edward Fenech Adami which unfortunatly would'nt be done in his lifetime.

N.Attard

Mar 12th 2009, 21:07

At long last the time has come! We never managed to build UK/EU standard roads. Not even the latest new roads like the Burmarrad road, Xemxija bypass, Zebbug roads etc have a grip comparable to the roads one can find in the UK or Germany or France. Our gravel deteriorates with the summer heat and for some reason the manholes and gutters are never smooth enough. I just hope that the private sector would use better material and techniques. a smooth surface which is still slippery is still not good at all!

K Mallia

Mar 12th 2009, 20:45

Funny!! Funny that the prime minister says he will charge more taxes if Labour will take gov to court because the latter unjustly charged the VAT on the registration tax but then no mention is made for how much more taxes we will pay for such a decision. Or how much more taxes we will pay just to have 80 million Euro for a new parliament (or culture centre now... maybe parliament debates are becoming cultural after all!!).

Funny also that gov is thinking about PPPs and mentioned one but did not mentioned the PPP that ELC had to be. How much are we paying to have flowers on the side of the roads? Oh yes we will now actually be also paying more for the roads.. so why worry about the price of a flower after all!!

Funny that gov is thinking about privitising the public sector but no real effort is done to reduce cars from the roads. Take the bus and as much as efficient the service is you will always be late because of the increasing traffic. What applies in Europe might now always apply here.

M. Catania

Mar 12th 2009, 20:42

No toll booths were mentioned in the article!! We are already paying through our taxes the funding of road management.

@J.Tonna

You are perfectly right.

@Pace Gouder

That is why we pay taxes!!!What do we pay taxes for? I consider the spending on capital projects by the Government as abysmal.

@Bryan Magro

Is building and upkeep of roads NON SENSE???

No wonder ...............................

michael bonnici

Mar 12th 2009, 20:20

If the 6 day blitz to repair roads damaged by the recent heavy rains were done in the same manner as that in Ordinance Street c/w Republic Street - Valletta, then we have dumped 500,000 euro in the sea.
The tarmac there ended up in tiny ,loose and dry gravel.
A similar case is in Hali Street - my hometown Zebbug.
There seems to be No control and No supervision. Just pay the bill for work carelessly carried out.
Michael Bonnici

L..Galea

Mar 12th 2009, 20:18

S.Cuajar
By not voting you will never get your message to the politicants thick-heads.
Go and vote for your party candidates and them write your message on your ballot paper.
This is the only way the thick-headed politicants and political parties understand.

J Busuttil

Mar 12th 2009, 19:43

Well said by the one who said that it is only TGEMGIM U Tgemgin. We already have PPPs like in old people's homes and ELS (Environment Landscaping). Please contribute positively to the idea. Those of you who have no ideas should SHUT UP.

Albert Bezzina

Mar 12th 2009, 19:38

"The standards for building and maintaining the road are set and monitored by the government" - AJMA HEJ: STANDARDS LI RAJNA SISSA? "Which pays a yearly set fee to a contractor who binds himself to build, re-build, re-surface and mantain the road." IL-YEARLY FEE: NISPERA LI TIGI MILL CASH LI IL-GVERNIJIET DRAW JEHILBU MIS-SEWWIEQA. "To the standards set by the government" JIGIEFIRI L-ISTESSS STANDARDS LI ISEFFSFU IL-KUNTRATTURI F' WIDNEJN IL-GVERN?
Why doesn't the Government give the Billions back to the motorist and we will contract the job and decide if the contractor gets paid or not. Is this brain wave an admission of total failure to administer motorist's money to at least give back a decent service? After all, roads are not only for motorists but necessary for economic activity and transport in general.
One Question Mr Minister. How are you going to ensure that the contractors do the work to EU standards when the St Paul's Bypass is turning into a never ending saga and you, the Government and especially the taxpayer have been taken for a ride for almost a decade now.

S.Cuajar

Mar 12th 2009, 19:05

What a new bright idea Mr Minister on the eve of the MEP elections!!

After the total failure and disasterous 6 day war on potholes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Arterial roads (such as Marsa/Qormi link road, Tarxien Road in Gudja etc... do I need to continue) are still fast deteriorating and the latest bla bla promise is this. Where are the repairs (especially in the South East of the island?) ..... you just wanted to convince us lately by a mere 500,000 euros Hon. Gatt!!!!

....... I bet this latest promise will further increase the long list of failed attempts to repair ALL the existing road network!!! No one is really accountable in this MICKEYMOUSE country especially ADT!!!

This is yet another Hollow promise like the one of having millions of euros specifically earmarked for roads all we have got after 5 year EU membership was limited improvement on our road network!! This is not acceptable anymore. How long do we need to wait in order to have at least all the arterial roads up to EU standard!!!!

@ Bryan Magro
You are correct .... The only thing left to do to protest against all this nonsense is NOT TO VOTE next June!

Muscat.Pat

Mar 12th 2009, 19:03

Considering that the "local" and "private" contractors are still digging, and building the terminals of Mgarr and Cirkewwa after 13 years of activities, we have to wait for the next millenium for the pot holes to be filled. The Hon Gatt thinks like our Holy Mother Church. The Hon Minister thinks that Time is measured in centuries and not in minutes hours days months and years!

Joseph Sammut

Mar 12th 2009, 18:59

If my memory serves me correctly, road contractors are already responsible for 5 years after road works have been certified as completed and up to specifications: is this maintained by the ADT?

And as for quality of works, this starts in the design (Periti and/or engineers), in the tender/contract and finally and equally important constant supervision and quality control by ADT over the contractor during execution of works. The Minister should start from there, then flow on to the contractor: only then would be start realising results.

Stefan Sammut

Mar 12th 2009, 18:46

let's hope for better roads then!
and good luck to the "private sector" enterprise that will make a good buck out of this....hope the license fee will be not be revised yet again!

Nigel Lawrence

Mar 12th 2009, 18:17

PLEASE-- don't let the award go to a local contractor, their road building quality speaks for itself

mike pace

Mar 12th 2009, 17:43

Were are the E.U funds that we been screaming about or all its fantasy and dreams and the answer to nation cry was to take their votes and after the elections everthing been done the opposite direction - they used to accused the Labour Government that left the state of the roads in trouble situation and about now we supposed we got the backing of E.U. -all the state funds that had been built by the Labour government had been sold to the private sector and what a shame

L..Galea

Mar 12th 2009, 17:34

alexander pace gouder
I don't think it was another dream,but perhaps he stepped out of bed on the wrong side and put his foot in it.

Robert Mifsud

Mar 12th 2009, 17:31

Addio all the funds hailing from the EU for our shameful roads.And now should we have to pay to drive through these roads once the transfer to the private sector is finalised ? Imma x intom thawdu GONZI PN ?

roberto vella

Mar 12th 2009, 17:25

the point is that certain measures cannot just be announced out of the blue, unilaterally and without discussion.

given these continuous developments, not to say uturns in certain cases, one wonders what scope the budget serves? was it not meant to be an economic management programme? so why this sudden departure?

what of the funds committed with the EU earmarked for roads? we are either risking these funds or else it was all a gimmick when in other cases changes of plans such as opera house or similar projects where labeled as dangerous as they would have led to the loss of eu funds

more questions should surely be raised

alexander pace gouder

Mar 12th 2009, 17:07

Hon.Austin Gatt - !!!!!!! Here we go again. Another overnight dream and in the morning you say it. What is going on? Project over project - statement after statement all becoming private. Are we going to be taxed for this also in the long run? Always some new fantastic idea!!!!!!!!!! Come on take all the responsibility and start repairing all our roads which are in a miseraby state. The one week war on our roads as I see it was a complete flop.

M farrugia

Mar 12th 2009, 17:01

PN 1987 - 2009

1987 - Toroq bla hotob u hofor
1992 - Toroq ta’ livell Ewropew
1998 - Nirrangaw it-toroq kollha ta' Malta u Ghawdex
2003 - Toroq godda u ahjar
2009 - Corragio Fuggiam

tony abela

Mar 12th 2009, 16:57

Corrected version:

"The best certificate of the failure of getting our roads up to EU standards, as most were made to beleive before we joined EU, is given by the Hon Minister himself.

And he expect us to thank him for making us this favour of upgrading the roads network by privitiasation...... should I say possibly more taxation?"

tony abela

Mar 12th 2009, 16:56

The best certificate of the failure of getting our roads up to EU, as most were made to beleive before we joined EU, is given by the Hon Minister himself.

And he expect us to thank him for making us this favour of upgrading the roads network by privitiasation...... should I say possibly more taxation?

Mark Gatt

Mar 12th 2009, 16:56

EU funds to build roads!

J Oatmon comment what about Irish and Japanese transport systems then?

Rita Spiteri

Mar 12th 2009, 16:54

@Mark Gatt
Dream on.

Mark Gatt

Mar 12th 2009, 16:54

People you alarm yourself to much. Things work like this .. or as they should ...
Gvern -> tender-> Private sector bid for tendor -> best offer take the work -> does the work in x amount of time -> finishes the job. Gvern part employs inspectors (serious ones, with qualifications) as assess the road and jobs done THAT IS how the world moves, mela everything in the hands of the government. If and ONLY if we arrange the roads and make public transport public liberalized we make surely success and tourist will come of sure. This way we should decrease traffic and people paying extra for car repairs. PLUS 'The contract would be published internationally in the third quarter of this year.' and contract have clauses and times. Mhux one company does all the work but there could be many road building and repairs by different companies at the same time. WHY SHOULD WE ALWAYS PUT THINGS IN A POLITICAL WAY. If people have a better way of doing things then go ahead and comment.

EU funds to build roads!

J Oatmon comment what about Irish and Japanese transport systems then?

J.Tonna

Mar 12th 2009, 16:53

Is this a BLOG corner or GEMGEM corner. HLIEF TGEMGIM MA QRAJTX.

Gerald Fenech

Mar 12th 2009, 16:41

Simply another method of abdicating responsibility by our Thatcherite minister. Still living in the 1980's. Let's hope the PM sees some sense and makes the ADT do its job finally. It's probably all spin to do with Smart City. Don't forget that the consuls were already shown the project yesterday so some sort of standard had to be kept up. Whether it's realistic or not is another matter altogether.

David Bartolo

Mar 12th 2009, 16:38

2003-Finanzi fis-sod
2009-Toroq mhux fis-sod

Richard Curmi

Mar 12th 2009, 16:34

The only two things left to privatise are the goverment and our souls.

J Oatmon

Mar 12th 2009, 16:34

I really think the statement "a modal shift from private to public transportation" - is just stupid. This 'public transportation plan' has been tried all over the world and has failed to deliver all over the world. We have had decades of this 'public esctor transport' in the UK, USA, all over Europe - and guess what people want to drive thier own cars and go when and where they want to. People are not sheep, they want to travel at midnight, and two am, in the rain and snow snug in their car, during strikes, they want to go whenever and wherever they want. without security risks, or gangs, or poor careless drivers, chatting on the mobile while driving, or sick fellow passengers coughing all over them.

This 'public transport idea' is an old failed idea, and just wastes money for some daft political correctness idea. Everyone knows what you get is dirty public transport that is always late, and does not go where you want to go, and then goes on strike!

L..Galea

Mar 12th 2009, 16:27

E Gatt
Socialists do not jump to conclusions in vain Gatt, but because everyone knows that privatization means more payments by the tax-payers going into private pockets instead of in Malta's coffer.

As for those who said that it is the works that are going to be privatized, from where will the money come for the works? More taxes, payment for road usage, from where?

As they say, Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad

R Sammut

Mar 12th 2009, 16:19

Was I reading a different electoral programme last year???

There was no mention of any of this!!

J Catania

Mar 12th 2009, 16:19

Has anyone bothered to read the article at all? "...."This did not mean privatisation of the roads, but the contractor would be responsible for building and maintaining the roads for a definite period."

albert cauana

Mar 12th 2009, 16:17

the previous labour governments did nothing to improve the road quality either, rather the opposite

Marcel Dingli

Mar 12th 2009, 16:11

@ Bryan Magro
By not voting you will only be helping idiots to get elected. VOTE and vote wisely.

Rita Spiteri

Mar 12th 2009, 16:08

Bla bla bla and more bla from the ministers.a private contractor would be responsible for the roads.Now that's an April fools joke RESPONSIBLE??? NO ONE is RESPONSIBLE for anything in this
God forsaken Island.

E Gatt

Mar 12th 2009, 16:03

Every time this dirty word ‘Privatisation’ is mentioned, the socialists try to create panic and jump to the wrong conclusion.

Austin Gatt’s proposal is that the roads will be managed just as the roundabouts/centre strips are today being managed privately. This is another long awaited step in the right direction of a government that has the guts to improve this country of ours.

Malta is not a large country and companies that can handle large cities can easily deal with our roads once and for all. If we need to make a choice between good roads or sentimental reason for keeping amateurs just because they are Maltese, then let’s bite the bullet.

bryan magro

Mar 12th 2009, 16:01

The ONLY thing to do to protest against all this nonsense is NOT to vote next June!!

Muscat.Pat

Mar 12th 2009, 15:59

Turning the responsability on private contractors to improve roads! And who will look on the harems?.....the local "know all" ministers!

Marcel Dingli

Mar 12th 2009, 15:58

@ Mike O` Hara
Probably this is just an apetiser. There might be something else prepared for the 1st April. We can never know can we ? But its to be expected. Had the whole local situation not been so serious it would have been so farcical !

CSammut

Mar 12th 2009, 15:52

We have paid taxes and got a lousy street maintenance service. I envisage that for the same money we were paying anyway, we get a good service now. I hope anyone damaging roadworks can be sued now, and applications for residential, special needs parking spaces and garage entries would be properly vetted. The citizen should also be able to sue the company when cars are damaged because of bad road maintenance.

Emmanuel Marmara'

Mar 12th 2009, 15:49

SO Mr.Minister you intend to go on with that obstinate head of yours and addio the Opera House. Come on Maltese citizens stand up and be counted..Don't let just one man do what he deems fit to suites his own self .Hope MMr.Minister, that you won't start the project before election time, so you and the likes of you will be dealt with...Remember that you are what you are, because we the citizens made you so..and not vice versa.

jcmicallef

Mar 12th 2009, 15:45

i endorse pn policies and back the present government's plans all out...as long as they make sense.

but this is not acceptable. even though it happens all the time.

as usual, due to bad work practice, lack of accountability etc, instead of bringing our house in order....we pass the buck to private contractors.

@epmuscat - we never paid peanuts for our roads, but we paid millions and got monkeys just the same.

@r. sammut - let's not panic. i can't imagine toll booths in malta, abroad these are applied for very long stretches of roads and highways, so let's not let our imagination run away - obviously at not more than 60kph! :-) notwithsanding i hope that the roads remain 'ours' - in every sense! Or are we going towards Switzerland in the Med after all? ;-)

it's also unacceptable that politicians keep passing the buck on authorities, regulators, private contractors, consultants etc just so that when things turn bad they are exonerated of any responsibility.

anyhow, further clarification is solicited.

Steve Rogers

Mar 12th 2009, 15:41

@EPMuscat

Good one! How about vote for monkeys and you get peanuts lol!

While the idea sounds interesting I'm afraid it will be twisted and distorted and turn up as Kevin Borg stated. I feel we are selling out our country to foreigners or contractors who turn out to be petty tyrants. Why is it the Maltese are known worldwide as being hardworking reliable and intelligent persons but at home we are careless and unthoughtful? So we need foreigners to clean up and maintain our country?

While on the subject. What is going on with the Midi project? Did we not sell out one-third of Sliema to the private sector? When will it be fully accessible? Wasn't Debenhams supposed to open up this March at the new shopping mall which is not ready yet?

How will the government ensure that our roads will not end up the same fate?

Samuel Ramage

Mar 12th 2009, 15:40

If my thinking is right if the private sector takes on the roads in Malta, they could bring in toll roads pay as u drive on a good road?

Marcel Dingli

Mar 12th 2009, 15:39

@ EP Muscat
We get what we vote for. We get monkeys. We get a banana republic.

Joanne Micallef

Mar 12th 2009, 15:36

I see that long gone are the days when Dr Gonzi was telling us that now that we're in the EU we'll get all the money we need to finally have decent roads on this island.

Personally I am not satisfied with just this statement, the minister must issue a full press release to explain exactly how this system will work.

Luke Buttigieg

Mar 12th 2009, 15:33

The maintenance work will be privatised not the actual land I believe! They'll get paid to maintain the roads like how that other private company is maintaining the roundabouts. I'm glad the public transport is going into private hands...

S. Skipperson

Mar 12th 2009, 15:29

ROAD WORKS will be transferred to the private sector not the roads!!!

A modal shift is where one mode (Public transport) ends up having a comparitive advantage over another (Private Transport). In other words the government will be revamping public transport to make it more advantageous.

Mike O'Hara

Mar 12th 2009, 15:27

I forgot to ask whether this article should have been withheld until 1st April!

Daniel Russell

Mar 12th 2009, 15:26

Blimey, next thing will be the shirts on your backs!
So will the upshot be that you will have to pay tolls as well as road tax? Kevin Borg you could be correct. In the UK we have state owned roads, but often the maintenance has been privatised by local companies. Two particular examples are Ringway and Midland Expressway Limited.
Kevin, watch out for SMART toll readers next which fit in your windscreen and pay tolls instead of having toll booths!

Do i also detect a climbdown on the Opera House site. A "cultural centre" could also feature a redesigned opera house or theatre? I like the idea of an open theatre, there could be "shakespeare under the stars" for example which would be nice.

Typical though, no mention on what's happening at Ta'Qali!

r cauchi

Mar 12th 2009, 15:23

Maybe this means that the money the government will get from the licenses will be transferred to the private companies and they will than be responsible for the maintenance of our roads. This way probably at last our roads will become up to standard.

EPMuscat

Mar 12th 2009, 15:22

We get what we pay for. We pay good money - we get good roads. We pay peanuts - we get monkeys.

R Sammut

Mar 12th 2009, 15:21

Does this mean we will need to pay a toll fee to use the roads?????

YOU MUST BE JOKING!! .. After all the roads were built from our taxes!

Are we expected to pay to use them now? What is the road tax for?

vella v

Mar 12th 2009, 15:20

let us see what he means when he issues more details, hemight be just fishing for comments. we will soon be seeing toll gates , ara kemm ikun hawn traffic biex nehilsuhom eh lol jien l ewwel wiehed li insuq mill villaggi kieku.

G. Fenech

Mar 12th 2009, 15:16

Abroad this is a very common occurrence. Roads are privatized in a lot of places.

What worries me is that we will get the usual big names taking the contracts, and the usual big names will use the cheapest materials that will float away with the first rain, and get away with it.

P Agius

Mar 12th 2009, 15:13

Does this mean we will have to pay to use the roads, and if yes are we still to pay the licence? Oh God forgive him ...