Taxpayers hit by €6m Valletta entry bill

Taxpayers had to stump up almost €6 million to sustain the controlled vehicular access to Valletta as expenditure was twice the revenue, figures show. While the Government has paid €11.7 million for the operation of the CVA system since its introduction, only €5.8 million was raised through fees paid by motorists for entering the capital. These figures prompted Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to declare last month that the Government wanted to revise the system that was costing the Exchequer an average of €1 million a year more than it rakes in through charges. The system was introduced in May 2007. Each month, an average 80,500 vehicles enter the charging zone, which excludes the Valletta ring road, but most of them do not even pay because they exit the city before the 30-minute time window is up. This figure is more than double the 33,000 cars that subscribed to the V licence scheme of the past. Not only has the CVA been running at a loss, but it proved to be unpopular with residents, shop owners and also infrequent visitors. The Valletta local council has already declared it was in favour of revising the system – something it had been wanting for quite some time – but is against...