Political decision to exempt Valletta ring-road lost crucial CVA revenue

A report by auditors Ernst & Young shows that Valletta’s controlled vehicle access (CVA) had been radically improved after first capturing just 76% of cars entering the capital city between 2006 and 2007, in its first months of operation.

Corrective measures, such as lowering the height of the cameras and increasing the number of cameras at the entry and exit points of Valletta, later saw capture rates increasing to 96%.

And yet, despite the 96% capture rates boasted by Transport Malta, Valletta’s CVA continues to lose money and instead it’s taxpayers who are funding the system.

The company running the vehicle access, CVA Technology Ltd, has since 2007 earned €5.4 million for running the system, when only €3.8 million was raked in from cars entering Valletta since then – despite the high capture rate of the technology.

CVA Technology Ltd was paid a €1.88 million management fee in 2008. The deficit that year, of some €570,000, was only made lighter thanks to the late payment charges of €227,000 – almost one-tenth of the total €2.4 million revenue that year.

An audit by the ADT, conducted in late 2008 and seen by this newspaper, confirms that the Valletta ring road “was originally included within the CVA zone”. The area, which still has CVA cameras installed “for data collection and verification of residency”, was removed as the 2008 general elections approached and due to unions’ protestations.

In its first year of operation, while the CVA system saw 21% less cars parking in Valletta, the ring-road saw 17.4% more cars parking there, almost cancelling out the effect of the CVA.

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