The government is proposing the setting up of a centralised government unit that will manage the local enforcement system.
This will mean that local wardens will no longer be employed by private companies but by this centralised unit that will fall under the Local Enforcement System Management Committee.
Local councils will not be involved in the operation of the system and local wardens, currently employed with any of the three private companies currently in operation, and who are interested and willing to undergo training, will be employed by the unit.
The unit will offer its services to regional committees and the money collected will go to local councils. Under the previous system over 70 per cent went to private companies with only 10 per cent going to local councils an the rest to the regional committee.
This proposed reform was announced during the launch of a White Paper launched for consultation this morning. Mayors were invited to attend to the launch.
As things stand today (following amendments that entered into force in 2011) local councils in Malta and Gozo are divided into five regional committees. These committees have the legal power to employ private enforcement companies and make use of their wardens for enforcement purposes.
The White Paper proposes a complete overall to the system. The legal power will be moved to the centralised unit that will employ the wardens directly. The wardens will be paid a normal salary and there would not be an element of commission.
Government consultant Michael Cohen said this was a reform for the people. Facts showed that the current system was expensive and there was room for improvement.
The amount of uncollected fines remained high. 18 per cent of citations remained uncollected. It was worrying that they varied from a fine of €23 to over €200,000 owed by private companies.
Good planning could lead to savings of up to 30 per cent that could be put towards the quality of local wardens that were well trained to offer the best service and increase human resources, he said.
"The local warden system is there to help the people," Mr Cohen said.
The consultation will continue until April 18 and three public consultation meetings will be held.
Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera said the system will not only focus on traffic control but also give prominence to the environment. It was important that local warden were there to help people.
This would allow the councils to have more time to focus on their localities and possibly apply for EU funds.
On unpaid tickets, Dr Herrera said he was evaluating several options including granting some form of amnesty. This had to be discussed.
He said that many of the unpaid tickets were given to people who came to Malta from Sicily. He said he was considering a system whereby these people would not be allowed to leave the island before paying their fines.
There was also a potential solution to the problem brought about by the fact that citations were not penalised. One could consider making it a crime when a fine was not paid after a certain amount of time.
Opposition spokesman David Agius said he had been consulted before the White Paper was issued and was interested to hear what emerged during the consultation.
"We are open to change so long as it is of benefit to local councils", he said adding that there were points he did not agree with in the White Paper but the Opposition was willing to discuss.