“€1,200 million in benefits from €141 million – this is what our country will gain when considering just 7 infrastructural projects on our country’s roads. The Marsa-Ħamrun Bypass, the Marsa Junction, Tal-Balal Road, Buqana Road, the Santa Luċija tunnels and Saint Andrews Road – these projects will give us €7 for every €1 we are investing in them. We are speaking about a 61% rate of return on investment for what the government is investing,” said Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Ian Borg during a conference organised by Infrastructure Malta.
During this conference, attended by representatives of several organisations and entities, including workers’ unions and entrepreneur and employer associations, a study commissioned by Infrastructure Malta was presented. This study, carried out by Dr Gordon Cordina and concentrating on 7 infrastructural projects, highlights the benefits which such infrastructural investments bring to the economy and to our road network.
Dr Cordina presented the outcomes of this study in the form of quantifiable and non-quantifiable benefits. Among quantifiable benefits, it is anticipated that these projects will lead to 62,000 tonnes less CO2 emissions per year, 5 million hours saved on travelling time per year and €25 million saved on fuel per year, among others. This means that an individual will save €75 on fuel every year for every vehicle, which is equivalent to 61% of the COLA given in the 2019 budget.
“Infrastructural projects which make a positive difference to the country’s economy, to the people’s pockets, to the environment, and to the time remaining to be spent with families or to dedicate to work. Today we can see the value of these projects, these solutions to the challenges of traffic and congestion, projects we have been speaking about for the last year and a half and which we always knew would make a difference in the lives of those who use these roads every day,” said Minister Ian Borg.
Minister Borg expressed his satisfaction with the results which highlight economic benefits and several other gains, including health gains, from every penny the government is investing in our roads, and said that this only means that our country spent years losing money and suffering from problems caused by a passive attitude where the necessary actions were not taken, where interventions like this towards an improved infrastructure were never implemented but remained shelved plans.
He referred to the study carried out by the European Commission in 2012 about costs related to congestion, and said that if this government hadn’t taken these positive steps towards an appropriate infrastructure, these costs would have kept going up, but not only did this not happen; to the contrary, with just these 7 projects we have already seen a predicted reduction of 14% in costs over a number of years.
“The government believes it should bring economic benefits to the people in every possible way, and in this case, we are giving people more quality time with their families, less waiting time in traffic, an opportunity to contribute more at the workplace, while contributing to a reduction in health problems through less congestion, among others. These are the results we wanted to achieve from investment. The people’s money has been entrusted to the government and we have the duty to invest them in the best possible way. And I therefore welcome Dr Cordina’s recommendations to invest part of these gains towards complementary measures such as investment in green infrastructure and it is my pleasure to announce that I will be putting forward this proposal for the next budget for the year 2020,” said Minister Borg.
Minister Borg stressed that the government will not stop here and will continue implementing its holistic plan towards less congestion and less emissions, even through the promotion of alternative means, including public transport, transport using the ferries and schemes towards cleaner means, while continuing with the study towards mass transport.
“Today we could also see how every type of solution, small or large, short or long-term, is having a positive impact. And we will therefore continue implementing short, medium and long-term solutions to our infrastructure. Today is clear proof that this government’s holistic plan is working and bearing fruit which will continue lead to benefits today and tomorrow, clear proof that our roads are a chain and investment made on every link has a positive impact on the whole network. These benefits we are discussing today are the result of 7 projects; so how many more benefits are there when considering all the projects being or planned to be implemented on our road network? Our determination to work towards more and more benefits does not die today but will continue getting stronger. We have made decisions that have not always been easy to make, and we will continue making them because our people’s quality of life cannot improve only through plans and words but needs to improve through facts. This was, is and will remain a government that plans, works and implements for more and more benefits towards an improved standard of living,” concluded Minister Ian Borg.
Infrastructure Malta CEO Eng. Fredrick Azzopardi explained how the results that have come out of Dr Cordina’s study is encouraging for all those working on the planning and implementation of road projects within the agency Infrastructure Malta, as well as all stakeholders. He added that the investment being made should be a continuous process to ensure that the country’s infrastructure continues to have these positive effects. And therefore, Infrastructure Malta’s work and plans go further than these seven projects which have been evaluated. Engineer Azzopardi concluded by saying that the agency is committed to continue implementing the infrastructural programme on a national level, which is aimed at improving quality and improving the same infrastructure so that our country can continue benefitting from sustainable economic development while catering for the needs of thousands of road users, for an improved quality of life.
