As I write this short piece, we have a situation on our roads. Optimistically speaking, as you read this piece, I hope it will have been resolved. In a nutshell, the liberalisation of the hitherto monopolistic funeral hearse services has led to the chaos we have been living this week. The hearses proved to be the proverbial tip of the iceberg, bringing to a head an issue that had been rankling for years - the whole public transport (dis) service to the public.
For too long, the monopolies enjoyed in this sector have led to a gradual and sustained deterioration of the quality of service that we, as normal people going about our every day business, were getting. Notwithstanding ongoing attempts by the government to educate, support and encourage operators in the transport sector, results have been, to say the least, poor. And, yet, they have assumed the right to go on strike and paralyse the nation on a presumed slight to eight hearse operators who have to date controlled the burial market. Not only that but they have flagrantly broken the law left, right and centre, presenting us with scenes reminding us of times that we all had hoped belonged to the passato remoto.
The ministry responsible for public transport has taken a firm position with regard to this issue. A clear decision was made and transmitted that service to the public is paramount and is not compatible with monopolies, which suffocate competition and render the consumer helpless in the face of Hobson's choice economics. The public is squarely behind this decision, which has now gone far beyond the hearse service that started it all. The talk on the streets is that it is about time that something is done to tackle this cavalier attitude to consumer service and that service providers need to pull up their socks and catch up with the rest of us. Environmental concerns also need to be addressed. First of all something needs to be done about the fumes belched out into the atmosphere by anachronistic buses and, secondly, unless public transport improves exponentially, there is no way we can see traffic congestion problems being relieved.
The lawlessness that has been manifested on the roads and other public places cannot be tolerated. The police force is in duty bound to maintain order and guarantee the safety of the public and nobody, whatever the grievance, is to be allowed to act as if they are above the law.
Minister Austin Gatt is handling the issue, and very well too, I must say, from a business perspective but the problem being faced by all of us should be handled by the whole government. No amount of sarcastic repetitions of electoral slogans should be allowed to deviate us from the heart of the matter, which is a matter of principle and a right to a decent service. The resources of the whole government should immediately be made available to address the situation and ensure that we, as citizens, and our visitors, the tourists, who are the source of the livelihood of so many thousands, are allowed to go about our daily lives in tranquillity and without fear, unnecessary disturbance and the sort of stress and tension commuters are being subjected to every day. This is a time for dogged determination.
The transport authorities and Minister Gatt have laid their cards on the table and, from what I can hear and read, the public has spoken and is squarely behind this course of action. The opposition party has also responsibly avoided the temptation to try to take some obscure political advantage of the situation and pronounced itself objectively on the matter.
It is now time to move away from words and go on to action. The situation must come back to as near normal as possible in the short-term and improve drastically over the long-term. It is what the public wants. It is what the public needs and it is what the public deserves. And, yes, flimkien, kollox possibbli (together we can make it happen)!
Dr Scerri is president of the Nationalist Party's general council.