Joe Mizzi pokes holes in PN's traffic congestion proposals

Transport minister Joe Mizzi rubbished the PN’s recently-published document of short-term measures to alleviate traffic congestion.

Speaking in his parliamentary adjournment, he said that the vast majority of the proposals have either already been implemented or are in the process of being implemented.

“They promised to commission a study on traffic management when they get elected, but such a study is already ongoing and will be completed before the end of the year, as per an EU directive,” he said. “They said that they will conduct information campaigns, but these are already ongoing. They said they will inform people on planned roadworks, but government already issues such notices two weeks in advance, something that never used to happen under the previous administration.”

Similarly, he argued that government is already incentivizing people to buy motorcycles, building new bicycle lanes and developing an intelligent transport system – all including in the PN’s traffic document.

Moreover, he called shadow transport minister Marthese Portelli out for ignoring public transport from her document and for omitting financial estimates and timelines for the proposals.

He lashed out at previous PN administrations for allowing the traffic congestion problem to build up over the years, without investing in infrastructure.

“PN governments used to boast about the rise in private cars on the island as a sign of a booming economy,” he said. “When Busuttil was asked about his plans to solve traffic, he said that I should answer that question for him.

“The PN are quick to take the credit for things that go right under this government, but they then pin the entire blame on us when things go wrong.”