Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1507984
RIDE-HAILING apps revolutionised the cab industry in Malta over the past five years, leading to a change in attitudes towards this mode of transport. More people today choose to get a cab to attend events, go to work or simply carry out errands, than they used to in the past. Technology has made it easier for people to hail a cab, know what it will cost them and pay it off; all through a mobile phone. Along with free public transport, cabs offer an alternative travel solution for people who choose to leave their cars at home. The proliferation of private cab companies has resulted in increased competition that drove prices down, making this mode of trans- port accessible to a wider audience. Indeed, cabs are part of the country's transport solu- tion. But like anything else, this burgeoning sec- tor needs to be regulated well to avoid popular pushback and unfair competition. MaltaToday has for the past two weeks been following the issue of Y-plate vehicles parked abusively on the streets and public areas when not in use. This newspaper keeps receiving photos from residents all over Malta showing Y-plate ve- hicles parked overnight on the streets and in every nook and cranny. The law clearly states that to obtain a Y-plate registration, the driver has to have a garage where vehicles not in use can be parked. Unfortunately, many cab drivers are choos- ing to ignore the obligation to park their ve- hicles in a garage and instead leaving them in public places. Invariably, these Y-plate vehicles end up tak- ing valuable parking space in residential roads. Either these cab drivers obtained their Y-plate licence fraudulently by providing a fic- titious garage address and so have no private parking space for their vehicle as required by law; or else they provided a garage address that is inadequate to house their vehicle for some reason or another. Alternatively, they have done everything by the book but do not both- er to fulfil their legal obligation to garage their vehicle when not in use. To make matters worse, the authorities ap- pear to be oblivious to this rampant abuse. Residents have spoken to us about repeated reports they filed about Y-plate vehicles left overnight on the street, or in public car parks and the authorities fail to turn up. This newspaper is informed that the authori- ties only conducted a swoop and fined Y-plate vehicles normally left inside the public car park next to PBS in Gwardamanġa after MaltaTo- day last Sunday flagged the location as one of the problematic areas. The lax enforcement is problematic because it creates the impression that abusers enjoy some form of impunity in the eyes of the law. It is useless having good laws on paper and fines increased accordingly if these are not enforced. The authorities do the right thing when they fine residents for parking their private cars wrongly in their neighbourhoods at night but what is good for the goose is good for the gan- der. Residents are justified to be irked by the double standards shown when Y-plate cars parked on the same street are ignored. If existing rules state that Y-plate vehicles should be garaged then operators must adhere to them and punished if they disregard them. The law of the jungle benefits no one. On the contrary, the law of the jungle irks residents, who see valuable parking space being gobbled up by commercial operators and creates un- fair competition for bona fide operators who go through the expense to adhere to all legal requirements, including investing in a garage. The onus here is on the authorities to enforce the rules and ensure a proper vetting system is in place to verify whether the information sup- plied by prospective Y-plate drivers is correct. A proper functioning cab industry that can offer consumers competitive prices is a neces- sary cog in Malta's transport ecosystem. Long gone are the days when the only form of cab system was the White Taxi service or fleet op- erators who operated from a garage and could only be contacted by phone. It would be a shame if the ride-hailing sector is allowed to develop into a problem. The only way to avert this is to ensure rules are properly enforced across the board. Cowboys have no place chauffeuring people around. The onus is on the authorities to ensure Mal- ta has a cab sector that is functioning well. The Y-plates saga: The law of the jungle benefits no one 11 EDITORIAL maltatoday MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: KURT SANSONE EDITOR: PAUL COCKS Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 SEPTEMBER 2023 EU's 'general' (not 'specific') direc- tion? By exclusion, there are only one or two factors left to even consid- er. Very clearly, the real problem concerns the European Union's current POLITICAL direction: as reiterated by the European Com- mission President, with her com- mitment – in last week's SOTEU address – to forge ahead with plans for 'further political integra- tion'. And the problem itself is quite simple, really. The European Un- ion wasn't actually on that direc- tional path, yet, when we joined back in 2004. There was no talk, at the time – beyond vague allu- sions to a 'European project' – of 'all 27 member states merging into a single entity, governed by a Brussels-based European Com- mission'. In other words: Malta never ac- tually signed up to the EU's cur- rent ambitions, of turning itself into some kind of 'United States of Europe' (and nor did any of the other 27 member states, quite frankly). And it is only now – i.e., over the past seven or so years – that the European Union has de- cided to forge ahead with those unpopular 'integration' plans, re- gardless. This, in turn, explains why the 'souring' of our EU-relations, hap- pens to coincide with the Com- mission's recent drive to finalise those plans, once and for all... in- cluding, by the way, 'tax-harmoni- sation' across the entire EU (which would severely impact Malta's ability to compete, in future). There are, of course, a few other factors. One of them is that the EU is now manifestly lagging behind other countries – especially China – when it comes to implementing its own 'Green Deal'; and rather than stepping up its own produc- tion of e-vehicles and batteries... it has opted to start a trade-war with China (which, in the long run, would merely make e-vehi- cles more expensive for European consumers). Add to this the fact that Malta's Labour-voting population – the 48% who didn't want to join in 2004, remember? – have mean- while been given plenty of rea- sons to feel 'betrayed' by the EU, themselves: having sat back and watched, bewildered, while the European Union (in their eyes, anyway) practically 'declared war' on their cherished Labour gov- ernment... even after Labour itself had performed the mother of all U-turns: transforming itself from an openly 'EU-sceptic' party be- fore 2008, to a passionately 'pro- EU party' afterwards... Once again, the timing is sig- nificant. It cannot escape notice that this 'decline in trust' started to be felt specifically from 2017, onwards. (And we all know what happened in Malta that year; and in the years that followed...) All in all, then: far from 'falling out of love with Europe'... Mal- ta has merely caught up with the rest of Europe, in seriously ques- tioning whether that institution – under its current leadership - even knows what frigging 'direction' it's going in, itself! There: not so 'melodramatic' af- ter all, is it now...?