Calls on Brussels to address 112 problem

MEPs Simon Busuttil and Louis Grech are calling on the European Commission to put pressure on Malta to improve its 112 emergency call service.

They were reacting to an article in The Sunday Times earlier this month which reported that 33 per cent of emergency calls in Malta remained unanswered while other member states have rates of between zero and 6.5 per cent.

Dr Busuttil said it would be an "unforgivable shortcoming" if even one person failed to receive emergency assistance in good time as a result of an unanswered call.

"I intend to follow up this matter by bringing it to the attention of the Commission through a parliamentary question.

I will demand answers and action," the Nationalist MEP said. Mr Grech said it was unacceptable for this service to be so poor. Besides putting pressure on the national authorities, the Commission should take the matter up "formally", he said.

He drew attention to the efforts by the European Parliament to promote the 112 service since only a fraction of citizens were aware of it.

"As far as I'm concerned, I will be introducing the 112 banner service on my new website some time in January, but I will also work with the other MEPs to pressure the Commission into taking further action on this issue," Mr Grech said.

When the Commission re-quested information from Malta for its analysis of the EU-wide implementation of this service, Malta did not submit any figures.

But a spokesman for the Commission did not express concern. He said the request for information had been made on a voluntary basis, adding that the Commission followed the matter very closely under EU law.

The Commission had not yet received a complaint from a Maltese citizen on this issue, he added.

The police, who are in charge of the service in Malta, have blamed the poor answer rate on hoax calls and people with no actual emergency blocking the lines. They also said some callers did not allow enough time for their calls to be answered.