Public car parks all over the island will soon be privatised as the government forges ahead with plans to revamp the car park attendant system, The Sunday Times has learnt.
Transport Malta is insisting on the installation of signs clearly displaying parking fees
The government plans to offer current car park attendants the right of first refusal as its opens up public car parks for tenders, turning them into parking spaces for which motorists are expected to pay more than the ‘tip’ they currently give to parking attendants.
Although the fees still have to be established, with commercial rates being floated as a possibility, whoever wins the tender will be expected to fork out thousands to make improvements to each car park.
Whoever wins the tender must install barriers, estimated to cost some €5,000 each, a ticketing machine, lighting and closed circuit television cameras for surveillance, among others.
If any of the 58 licensed car park attendants fails to win a tender, Transport Malta is guaranteeing them a job with the winning bidder with a weekly salary of €166.
According to the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, representing car park attendants in talks with Transport Malta, the plan is to award public car parks a tender for a six-year period. The current attendants will only be given right of first refusal once.
Not all car park attendants are thrilled with the plan, with talks going on for more than a year according to the union.
Transport Malta confirmed discussions were under way on “a number of changes to the regulatory and policy framework with regard to car park attendants and public car parks”.
A spokesman said due to these ongoing talks Transport Malta was not in a position to divulge details.
One car park attendant who contacted The Sunday Times lamented that the government’s plan was unfair.
He said car park attendants should have a right to a lump sum, the same way bus drivers were compensated when Arriva took over the public transport service.
The man, who did not wish to be named, said car park attendants were comfortable with the current set-up. Each paid an annual licence of €11 and were dispatched to an area of Transport Malta’s choice.
Car park attendants do not receive a salary but live entirely off the ‘donations’ they receive from motorists, although he admitted some of them forcefully demanded the tip.
Parking attendants agreed that a regularised system is important since it would lead to better service, but their main concern remains the loss of their only source of income.
Whoever wins the tender will be obliged to install an electronic sign with the total number of spaces available in the parking area and the number of vacant spaces. This information has to reach Transport Malta electronically in real time.
Although the tender winner is obliged to install a proper lighting system, the government is prepared to foot the electricity bill. Transport Malta is insisting on the installation of signs clearly displaying parking fees.
No solution has yet been found for those car parks which are currently also being used as through-roads or those which cannot, for logistical reasons, be closed off completely to traffic.