The government and the White Taxis Association hold different opinions on whether the liberalisation of the sector has been accepted or not although the Transport Ministry thinks that talks on the issue can continue.

The association said yesterday that during a meeting with the Minister of Investment, Transport and Communications, Austin Gatt, last week, agreement was reached on three points that had to be implemented before more taxi licences are issued. However, no agreement was reached on the liberalisation of the taxi service.

The ministry is, however, insisting that the association had accepted in writing the liberalisation of the white taxis when the transport strike was called off on July 17. This occurred when the Transport Federation had spoken on the association's behalf.

The association referred to statements by Dr Gatt in the sense that an agreement was reached with it for the taxi service to be liberalised. "Such statements were incorrect and were designed only to make the minister appear to have won points as an outcome of the recent transport strike and to mislead the public," it said.

It said that, while it is true that during the meeting in question Dr Gatt - the only one the minister ever had with the association - said that the final aim of the government was to liberalise the taxis, at no time did the association express itself in agreement with this proposal.

The only agreement reached during that meeting was on the need to introduce measures - on which it had been insisting for a long time - ensuring that whoever is given the tag to work as a taxi driver would be worthy and able to occupy that position; to introduce measures - which the association is also insisting upon - to ensure an improvement in the level of the taxi service, which improvement would possibly lead to more work; and, thirdly, so that, after the above-mentioned measures are implemented, talks would be held over whether the market had reached the level of competitiveness that could lead to the issue of more licences following consultation with the association.

The Transport Ministry said that, in the agreement with the Transport Federation, the government accepted that before it issued more licences it would consult with the White Taxis Association.

At a meeting with the taxi owners' representatives on July 24, Dr Gatt had said that the government intended to fully liberalise the taxi service by allowing the issue of more licences in consultation with the association.

It was significant that the association pointed out that the meeting was the first ever with the ministry. This was mostly because of the fact that the association stopped its service before ever meeting the government.

The ministry added the association had informed the government that it would be calling a meeting for its members to discuss its views on how liberalisation of the sector should be implemented.

The ministry said that despite the fact that the association was trying to deny what it accepted in writing some days ago, it saw no reason why talks over liberalisation should not continue next week.