I believe that most of the complaints made by businesses regarding CVA are to do with costs; as for the Park and Ride it is the inconvenience and loss of time.

Time wise, I have worked it out that to find a slot at the Park and Ride one “wastes” around 50 minutes a day: and in this age this length of time costs a lot of money.

One has to appreciate that for a business in Valletta a car is an essential piece of equipment, be it to collect and deliver items either from stores or from other shops, or to run other errands, etc. And these movements in and out of Valletta cannot be done within the 30 minutes “free” CVA time, again meaning that they have to suffer the full charge effected by CVA.

My proposal is this: Some time ago we were charged Lm20 for the “privilege” of having a V licence. Keeping in mind the €2.50 per week charged at the park and ride (adding up to €130 yearly), I believe that a fair charge of €100 for just one car per business to be licensed to enter Valletta anytime and park anywhere, could be made.

Obviously, the CVA charge for this car would be waived. Furthermore, if other cars are to be registered to enter Valletta, the charge would be, say, €160 to €180, making it dearer than the Park and Ride.

This is just a proposal which, of course, can be improved upon but which I believe can lead the way to a better business atmosphere in our capital city.