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9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 28.9.2023 T ransport Malta Chief Executive Oficer Jonathan Borg issued an appeal, urging car owners to consider using the roads during less congested hours when possible as a solution to traffic congestion. "I want to make a genuine appeal – cooperate with traffic officials, in the early hours of the day, be more cautious, and when possible, use the roads later on in the day," Borg said in a message uploaded to the trans- port authority's Facebook page. The message coincides with stu- dents returning to school after the summer recess, a time which is syn- onymous with gridlocks and traffic congestion. The appeal - though surely genuine - is short-sighted and realistically a reflection of how de- tached the authorities are from the realities of everyday life. We have addressed traffic prob- lems by building more roads, more flyovers and more junctions. No one has yet talked of addressing the cause of the traffic chaos. As we all know and probably agree, traffic chaos leads to inefficiencies and in- creased business costs. The Transport Malta chief said he was aware of the congestion is- sues facing Maltese roads and said: "Our dedication to finding solutions remains unwavering, and in the forthcoming weeks, we will be seek- ing your input to find solutions to- gether and expedite progress." He said this as more than 28,700 state school students returned to school together with 5,942 school children who will attend school next week. But Borg's appeal is a half-hearted solution to a problem which shows to what extent the hard decisions are never taken. It also shows that he is detached from the realties of how businesses work or institutions function: from services that open at 8am, schools and hospitals that offer a public serrvice, and the plethora of retail outlets that offer a service to customers with cycles linked to age- old recurrent time-tables. The first solution would surely be a proposal to restrict the use of heavy vehicles and logistical transport from operating between 7.30am and 9am. These vehicles hinder the flow of traffic. The second solution is to coordi- nate road works, building construc- tion and excavation. Surely the an- archy that exists with departments and agencies not knowing who is doing what can be addressed by some central authority. We are a cir- cus when it comes to the issuance of permits. These proposals would address to a certain extent the grid locks, but government does not have the pro- verbial balls to act on this. The other solution is to inject more energy and money into public transport by using smaller commut- er buses to increase efficiency. Not by making it free but rather by mak- ing it more efficient. The idea of throwing money at problems is not the only way of solv- ing problems. What we need are courageous de- cisions... ones that politicians are reluctant to take because they are short-sighted and bad managers. How to solve traffic congestion according to the TM boss In August 2023, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the RPI was 4.0 per cent, down from 4.7 per cent in July 2023. The highest annual inflation rates in August 2023 were registered in Food (9.3 per cent) and Housing (8.7 per cent). On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in Transport and communication (-2.7 per cent) and Clothing and footwear (-1.1 per cent). The largest upward impact on annual inflation was registered in the Food Index (+2.00 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of take- aways. The second and third largest impacts were measured in the Housing Index (+0.69 percentage points) and the Other goods and services Index (+0.53 percentage points), mainly on account of higher prices of house maintenance services and insurances. Retail Price Index (RPI): August 2023 DID U KNOW?

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