Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/587664
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2015 15 agree that it's never been as bad as it is today. Even Edward Sci- cluna, even the Prime Minister, now agree that traffic has become a major economic obstacle. I don't recall anyone saying that in the previous administration. Well, it depends on one's mem- ory. I also remember when former Public Transport Association chief Victor Spiteri claimed on Xara- bank – around 10 years ago – that there were studies showing that traffic, "would reach gridlock in 10 years' time" (i.e., today). He has been proved right in this predic- tion. So isn't it the case that the former Nationalist government ignored this problem until it reached crisis proportions, and that the Labour government now has to clean up the resulting mess? Debono however counters that the traffic problem is not solely about the number of cars on the road… but also about government vision and planning. "I think the fact that the road management and infrastructure was so much better before than it is today… I believe it was, yes." [Here she is reacting to a quizzical look on my face]. "In this legislature, all the government has managed so far is work on the Coast Road, which the PN had not finalised. In a whole legislature, I don't expect that the government would only manage to complete one project – the Coast Road – and maybe, if we're lucky, the Kappara junction. Even when it comes to planning and investment in infrastructure, I believe we are on a downward spi- ral. The situation is deteriorating at a very fast rate." Prognostics for the near future also suggest that government work on road infrastructure is likely to fall behind further. "According to the budget, Kap- para junction will begin at some point next year. It could be January 2016, it could be December 2016… we don't know. It will also take 24 months to be completed. That, at least, is what government is pro- posing. There is a big difference between proposals, and reality… just bear in mind that the power station was supposed to be ready in two years, and works haven't even begun yet. Meanwhile, in the budget, Minister Scicluna said that there won't be two projects car- ried out at the same time. One can ask, then: will works on the Marsa junction start within this legisla- ture? I doubt it, because if the Ka- ppara junction will take two years minimum… assuming it starts next January, even though government hasn't committed itself to a date… most probably the Marsa junction will have to wait until the next term. So yes, I am convinced – and say it with a clear conscience – that the previous government was far superior when it came to road in- frastructure and management." Debono here reminds me that success in this area was also one of the key promises that won the Labour Party the March 2013 elec- tion. "Let us not also forget that, when the Labour Party was still in Op- position, its two major promises were a 'roadmap', in particular about public transport and infra- structure, and the completion of a new power station in two years. So government actually placed all its eggs in that one basket, and so far they have failed miserably." That may well be true, but it doesn't reassure us that the PN would be any more successful. Debono mentioned one example herself: public transport, which she describes as a 'complete disaster'. The description is apt, as even I can confirm from my attempts to use the service. But the PN had also tried to reform public trans- port, and the results were hardly any better. How would she react if I put it to her that, given its own disastrous record in the same de- partment, public transport is one area where the PN is certainly not in a position to criticise? "I am definitely not going to de- fend the public transport reform under the previous administration. It left much to be desired. How- ever, when it comes to pounds, shillings and pence… under this government the taxpayer is paying three times as much in subsidies, which have now reached €30 mil- lion. One would expect, then, that the service should be three times better than it was before. And defi- nitely, it is not…" Perhaps. But at the same time, the implications of Debono's assertion are also a little bleak. It would ap- pear that traffic – and public trans- port in particular – is a problem that is simply beyond the capabili- ties of either party to solve… even if both parties consistently project themselves as the 'solution' to all Malta's problems. So why should today's elector- ate trust the PN more with regard to this issue… when it was just as incompetent in its past efforts as Labour is today? "I wouldn't say it is 'beyond' the capabilities of the Nationalist party. However, I would person- ally much rather if this issue had never, ever, ever been politicised. I acknowledge the government's successes in certain sectors – for instance, financial services – be- cause there was always political consensus. However, let us not forget the major electoral pledge by Joseph Muscat, when in oppo- sition, that he had a 'roadmap' for public transport. People voted for that pledge; they believed in that promise. People hoped that there was this vision. But evidently, there is no vision in place today. That is why the Opposition feels the peo- ple have been deceived. There is a big deceit in all this. They liter- ally tried to make us all believe that they had this magic roadmap, when they very clearly didn't." Interview Budget 2016 seems to offer little foothold for an Opposition keen to rebuild itself as a serious alternative government. But KRISTY DEBONO – Nationalist MP and economist – argues that Labour is only reaping the fruits of the former government's successes nowhere PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD