The Nationalist Party is calling for a serious and holistic plan to address the traffic problem, saying it is unacceptable for the government to suggest children should be dropped off at school an hour earlier.
The problems related to traffic congestion were the result of different causes – such as bad management of road works – which required serious analysis to come up with a holistic plan.
No child, parent or teacher should end up a victim of the Transport Minister’s incompetence, the Opposition stressed.
“The government has to stop churning out sporadic proposals and taking nonsensical decisions. We need a serious and holistic plan to deal with traffic congestion. The government needs to start by first of all accepting the problem is real rather than a perception,” shadow transport minister Marthese Portelli said.
We need a serious and holistic plan to deal with traffic congestion
Shadow education minister Therese Comodini Cachia said traffic problems had “exploded” over the last two years and real solutions were called for.
“Every time this government has a national problem it targets students. It is completely unacceptable to make children wake up an hour earlier for school just because the government is unable to address the problem,” Dr Comodini Cachia said.
She insisted the proposal did not make sense and that it had been, in fact, heavily criticised by a number of entities, including student and teacher organisations as well as the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry.
The Opposition said it would be consulting stakeholders on the White Paper published by the government before finalising its decision but it pointed out that one of the government’s proposals was in fact suggested by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil during the last Budget debate.
Ten months ago, Dr Busuttil suggested that one of the solutions to the traffic problem was for the government to offer free transport for children attending Church and independent schools.
“At the time, the Prime Minister had attempted to ridicule the proposal but now the government is taking up the suggestion and trying to pass it off as its own,” Dr Portelli said.
The Opposition said the Labour Party was elected on the promise that it had a road map to address traffic problems. “It is now obvious there was no plan. The problem became worse,” Dr Portelli added.