A Note from the Editor

PETER PAUL BARBARA

Welcome to the second edition of T-21: The Transport Malta Quarterly. First of all, I would like to thank all those readers who sent their encouraging comments on this initiative as well as for their feedback, especially with regard to the publication’s format, design and content material, and for providing useful and valid suggestions.

The scope of this journal is to provide, first and foremost, information on work and services that Transport Malta carries out on a daily basis and in certain areas on a 24/7 basis, in order to keep our national transport system functioning in its entirety and as one would expect it to.

As expected, especially in view of the regulatory function of the Authority, Transport Malta receives hundreds of questions and requests for information on various issues and topics every day, mostly through our Customer Care Services, but also through our service counters and offices.

A database has been put in place to analyse the subjects and topics that people mostly ask about, both through our Customer Care Unit as well as through our offices and our social media.

For this purpose, and as from this month, we will be revisiting those topics and subjects that people frequently ask about, in hopes that we will address these questions over the upcoming editions of this publication. This, of course, is only one initiative from a number of others currently being considered to improve our dissemination of information to the general public.

We are starting with two articles from the compiled list of frequently asked questions, written in a quasi-questionand-answer format.. These two articles deal with issues relating to vehicle car number plates as well as the procedures one would need to follow when garaging a vehicle or when scrapping one.

These two topics are important, especially to address arising issues in relation to unwanted vehicles and vehicles which are not used and put in a garage, gathering dust.

Sometimes owners do not pay their road licences in these situations and if this is not taken care of, it may result in having to pay hefty amounts of money in unpaid license fees and accumulated fines. In fact, there are simple procedures which one has to follow, either to garage a vehicle or to scrap one, in order to avoid paying money which I am sure could be better spent.

With regard to the issue of vehicle number plates, we have a very interesting article which goes into detail on the different types of number plates, costs, and procedures to follow. We also followed the process of number plate making, which I found very interesting, and I am sure you will too. Here I would like to thank the Deputy Chief Officer of the Land Transport Directorate, Mr. Gilbert Agius, for the tour. A sample T-21 number plate was also produced to commemorate this article.

This month’s T-21 edition is mostly dedicated to the Land Transport Directorate, and we shall explain the various units which make up this Directorate as well as services

associated with Land Transport that are offered, such as vehicle purchase and licensing, operating licences, and public transport, amongst others. Obviously, other features will also be published in the future because as you can imagine, land transport is a very engaging sector.

We are also including a very interesting article on driving licences and tips which one could follow to successfully obtain a driving licence.

A very important topic which we are featuring in this edition is the general clean up currently underway in our Grand Harbour, with the intention of improving its functionality and accessibility. This is so that the country can make better use of its main and unique port by maximising its resources, and to improve its environment as well as that of its surrounding towns and villages.

This issue is also dealt with by our Transport Minister, Hon. Dr. Ian Borg, in his kind contribution to this second edition for which we would like to thank him. This endeavour is also being addressed by the Authority’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Joseph Bugeja in his usual Foreword.

In this second edition we are also looking at two important services being offered by the Authority, with regard to the Maritime and Shipping Industry on the one hand, and to Land Transport on the other.

The first relates to a very small unit, namely, the Hydrography Unit, and the second relates to another of our small units, the GIS-Unit. I am sure that you will find these two articles very interesting. packed with interesting features which I am sure will give you further insights on the work being carried out by Transport Malta and its employees.

Another interesting article featured is in the form of a human-story on a relief flight to the capital city of Lebanon, Beirut, which was hit by a major explosion in its port area last year, leaving many people dead and over 500,000 people displaced without a roof.

The relief flight with supplies for those in need was the idea and brainchild of Director General for the Civil Aviation Directorate within Transport Malta, Captain Charles Pace. Similar to the first edition, the publication will be available for everyone to download as a soft copy from our official Transport Malta Website, which can also be shared. For those who would want to own a printed version, this will be available in limited numbers from the Customer Care or Reception of the Authority’s Head Office in Ħal Lija.

In this edition we will also take a look at maritime related vocational courses available, as well as certification and a number of institutes that provide training. Another featured article is about a very important national survey on transport and travel behaviour, which is a very strategic tool when it comes to the development and planning of transport policies. This survey will be rolled out very shortly. As one can see, this second edition is jamFinally, I would like to thank Senior Management for their support, the Marketing Unit for their assistance, as well as the Maritime Enforcement Directorate for their patience and support they provided over the last few weeks to make the illustrations for this edition possible.

I hope you will enjoy it.

The Editor.

Peter Paul Barbara is Director within the Office of the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy CEO