Thake opens PN general conference: ‘Malta is not serene’

Malta is no longer “a serene country”, according to PN secretary general Rosette Thake who this evening opened the Nationalist Party’s general conference, Honest Politics.

“The country is not serene. The previous administrations made us feel like we were living in a normal country … a European country that weathered the financial storm. Whilst countries crumbled, our economic sectors flourished. Now, Malta has been rocked by the biggest scandal of corruption, worsened by Joseph Muscat’s hard-headedness,” Thake said.

Thake accused the Prime Minister of placing his personal interest before that of the country. She said, that, ultimately, the choice would be between Muscat and PN leader Simon Busuttil.

“Today we can continue talking about Panama Papers or place ourselves as an alternative.”

She said, that the PN had already launched its good governance proposals and the opposition would continue discussing “honest politics”.

“The choice is between Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil: Muscat, who is always on the wrong side of history, and Busuttil, who makes history.”

Shadow transport minister Marthese Portelli also unveiled her proposals aimed at addressing traffic congestion. The document lists 15 measures and 35 proposals.

In an overview of the document, entitled ‘Reducing Traffic Congestion – short term measures’, Portelli also quoted two surveys carried out by MaltaToday which confirmed traffic congestion as a major concern for the public.

The proposals - leaked by the Labour Party earlier this afternoon -  include providing free school transport for all students in public and private schools, dedicated transport to students at MCAST, Junior College, the University of Malta as well as peak hospital visiting hours.

Another measure is the possible introduction of direct transport from villages and/or strategic points offered to government employees. This could also be applied to industrial estates as well as to popular locations or events, such as feasts.

The PN has proposed “a voluntary opt-in scheme whereby vehicle owners may opt to use their vehicle only on selected days and during particular times”.

In her brief intervention, Portelli said that an evaluation of the effectiveness of existing roundabouts, centre strips, road markings and road signs should take place should also take place in order to study their impact on bottlenecks.

The shadow PN minister also proposed an IT infrastructure that connects local councils, the police force and Transport Malta in one system providing the general public with real-time information on traffic flow.

In its first reaction to the proposals, the Labour Party said the document offered no “magic wand” to solve the problem of traffic: “Instead it includes proposals which are being implemented or are already in place; no costings have been provided for those measures which appear to be new.”

“Simon Busuttil is simply shooting from the hip,” the PL said, adding that the “half-baked” document offered no concrete solutions.