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Police intervene to allow ad hoc taxi at Waterfront
By MaltaMedia News
Jul 15, 2008 - 9:31:17 AM
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Protesting taxi drivers have been restricted to a section of the Waterfront in Valletta following interventions by a large number of police officers to make way for a chauffeur-driven car offering alternative services instead of the taxis.
The car had previously been blocked from offering its service by the protesters.
The officers were jeered by the taxi drivers who have been neglecting their services to passengers from the liner Norwegian Gem forcing them to walk all the way up to Valletta.
Earlier on, the Park and Ride emergency service was suspended after protesting members of the Transport Federation blocked access to the Park and Ride site in Blata l-Bajda at around 0730CET.
The service was also halted because the same protesters boarded some of the minibuses, intimidated the drivers and forcefully pulled them out of the vehicles.
The emergency drivers are members of the Armed Forces of Malta in uniform and were accompanied by enforcement officers of the Transport Authority. Moreover, in some instances, vehicles were vandalized and windscreens were smashed and the vehicle keys were stolen by the angry protesters.
The ministry of Infrastructure has ordered the Transport Authority to halt the emergency service.
Major roads around Valletta have been blocked as have been the parking spaces.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning, commuters who usually use public transport had to find alternative ways of getting to work as the public transport workers went into their second day of actions halting all services.
In this crisis situation, while the Transport Federation remains adamant to go on with its actions, ADT is providing limited emergency service.
On Monday night, buses and minibuses still hogged St Anne Street in Floriana and the road has been blocked. This has led to collateral congestion in the area of Floriana, Marsa and Pieta’ with hundreds of frustrated drivers caught in crawling traffic.
Meanwhile, government has declared that the decision of liberalising hearses will remain unchanged. Accusations of irresponsibility and appeals for sensibility have been showered upon the Transport Federation from all quarters of civil society.
Notably, both the Malta Labour Party and Alternattiva Demokratika have issued statements saying that they both agree with Government on the liberalisation of some sectors – if not all- of the transport industry making it effectively a rare case of a unified political front.
© Copyright 2008 by MaltaMedia.com
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Latest update:
Jul 15, 2008 - 9:54:10 PM CET
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