Number of traffic marshals to increase

Ministry working on setting up road resurfacing agency

The number of traffic marshals present on our roads shall increase with the intention of curbing offences such as speeding and driving under the influence, the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Ian Borg has said.

Asked by The Malta Independent whether there are plans for more law enforcement and police presence on the roads in order to prevent drink-driving, the minister said: “On the part of Transport Malta and my ministry, we are going to increase the presence of traffic marshals – Transport Malta officials on the ground – to further prevent things like speeding, drink-driving and so on.”

“In this regard, the police have more authority, so the transport ministry must also work with the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security to increase presence on the ground,” he said.

Borg also stated that the government was aiming to reducing the legal alcohol limit for driving to the EU average of 0.5g from Malta’s current 0.8g

When asked about the road resurfacing project announced by the Labour Party before the election, Borg said that the government was currently setting up a new road management agency which would implement the plan pledged in the electoral manifesto to resurface all the island’s roads over a period of seven years.

“We are currently in the process of setting up the new agency, which is going to be separate from Transport Malta,” Borg said. “With that we would need to transfer the responsibilities from one to the other, and there will therefore need to be legislation in Parliament. We are waiting for the first draft from legal services, following which we will see how the agency is going to be set up.”

“Regarding how much it’s going to cost, we need to work according to the electoral manifesto. There are about 160 roads that have never been resurfaced, which will take priority.” He added that all resurfacing and road works which are happening now are not part of the €700 million project. “That will only begin once the agency is set up and strategy announced,” he said.