Updated 1.35pm - Added minister's reaction
Siġġiewi mayor Karol Aquilina has lambasted Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, saying the council never asked for a 10 per cent tolerance mechanism to be disabled on a speed camera in the village.
“This is an outright lie as we never made such request”, Dr Aquilina told Times of Malta.
Mayor Karol Aquilina aired his views in a Facebook post. Photo: Facebook/Karol Aquilina
Moreover, the mayor has asked the Local Enforcement System Agency to refund fines paid by motorists caught speeding within this tolerance bracket, which was in place to compensate for speedometer inaccuracies.
The Siġġiewi mayor reacting in the wake of the controversy fuelled by a story published yesterday by Times of Malta, which said that motorists caught speeding on camera by even the slightest amount over the legal limit would be fined.
Under the tolerance system, a fine is only issued if the infringement is in excess of 10 per cent of the respective speed limit.
READ: Have speed cameras stopped cutting motorists any slack?
Alarm bells were sounded a few days ago when motorists complained of having received fines for driving at 61.5 km/h in a 60km zone.
In a belated reply to Times of Malta questions, LESA yesterday said that the zero tolerance policy had only been applied in Siġġiewi, while insisting that the 10-per cent policy was still in force in the remaining 20 cameras across the island.
This was also confirmed by Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, who told Times of Malta that it was Siġġiewi council which had asked for the 10 per cent tolerance mechanism to be removed. This request was accepted by LESA also on the strength of professional advice, Dr Bonnici added.
The issue was once again raised this morning in an “urgent but cordial” meeting between LESA and the Siġġiewi mayor, in which the latter made a number of requests.
In a Facebook post uploaded soon after the meeting, Dr Aquilina said that he the council was requesting the introduction of the tolerance system with immediate effect in Siġgiewi. Moreover, all fines issued for motorists driving from 66km/h below must be revoked, and if necessary refunded, Dr Aquilina said.
'I was misunderstood' - Minister
Reacting to these claims, the Justice Minister said that the decision on the zero tolerance policy had been taken by LESA following the council’s request to install a speed camera.
Dr Bonnici said that comments he had given yesterday that the council had asked for the tolerance system to be disabled had been “misunderstood”.
“The council had filed a request to install a speed camera which was backed up by a study. The zero policy was adopted by LESA,” he said.
Furthermore, Dr Bonnici said he had never given any ministerial direction on this matter and that it made no sense to create an exception just for Siġġiewi.