The Nationalist Party’s pledge, if elected to office, to bring about the largest ever infrastructural upgrade the country has ever seen, is very welcome news indeed.
Simon Busuttil said last week that a new PN government would draw up and implement a long-term plan investing hundreds of millions of euros in the country’s infrastructure, particularly roads and new modes of transport – including a new underground and overground metro system. Dr Busuttil also said that the infrastructure upgrade would include a tunnel between Malta and Gozo if such a project was feasible.
The PN leader accused the government of leaving the infrastructure “to crumble” while squandering taxpayers’ money on nepotism. While that statement is somewhat of an exaggeration, Dr Busuttil does have a point: recurrent expenditure under Labour has nearly doubled since 2013, mainly as a result of excessive employment in the public sector, while roads, public cleanliness and public transport have not been given the attention they deserve.
Considering the strong economic growth that we have witnessed under this government as well as the substantial reduction in our financial deficit and public debt, one would have expected more money to have been allocated towards roads and the improvement of public transport, which are not only important for our quality of life but also for tourism.
Public transport has always been problematic in Malta, and while the new bus service run by the Spanish company Autobuses de Leon has offered some improvements on the previous arrangement, it has fallen short of the public’s expectations. Arriving at one’s destination often takes far too long, commuters sometimes wait for an unacceptably long time before their bus arrives, and it is not uncommon for buses to be unable to take on all the passengers waiting at a bus stop.
Our public transport system not only caters for Malta’s residents but also for many of the two million tourists who visit every year. The PN’s plans for a metro system therefore make perfect sense and would put us on a par with modern European cities. Hopefully, the party will soon give details about how this project, to cost at least €2.3 billion, would be funded, whether EU funds would be available and if the private sector would be involved.
Roads are also another sector which have not been adequately funded by this government, and the PN is absolutely correct to make their upgrading a priority. There have been a number of major works on arterial roads – for which EU funds are available – but the rest have been basically neglected, making us look like a Third World country rather than an EU Member State enjoying record economic growth. Any new government, whether led by the PN or Labour, should lay out a structured plan to rebuild or upgrade our roads within a reasonable timeframe.
One hopes the PN’s plan will also include additional local council funds for street cleaning, which is today wholly inadequate. Many areas of Malta are filthy, and certain localities such as Sliema and St Julian’s, which have both a huge tourist influx as well as uncontrolled development, are particularly shabby and dirty. Something as basic as public cleaning has long been neglected by successive governments, but it is surely more important to people than some of the grand projects which governments sometimes spend millions of euros on.
The PN’s proposals are without doubt a step in the right direction as a more modern infrastructure improves people’s quality of life. Coupled with the party’s promise of an increased respect for the environment and less reliance on the construction industry and mega projects to fuel economic growth, the PN’s latest promise should be welcomed by all.