Minister Gatt was speaking at the launch of the e-government service under which applicants can apply for children’s allowances online, which was organised in collaboration with the Family and Social Solidarity Ministry.
Dr Gatt explained that issuing separate tenders for each service was a long and tedious process that was often held up by bureaucracy and red tape.
“However, precious time will be saved through issuing the tenders at one go. These will be awarded to various private companies which will eventually put in a bid,” he said.
Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina explained that the launch of the online service was the result of an inter-ministerial collaboration between the two ministries that would make people’s lives easier.
“Applying for children’s allowances online should help reduce the continuous flow of people who come to the ministry. Although a hard copy of the application form still has to be mailed to the ministry, people no longer fill in the application form here,” she said.
Prospective applicants would require an e-ID to log onto the service, which is available at www.gov.mt. The e-ID is available at all local councils.
Once the applicants log in, they fill in the necessary details and print the application form, which has to be signed and sent to the ministry.
Dr Gatt said Malta ranked second among EU countries with the highest percentage of e-government services.
“We want to continue improving on these results and become first – implementing this new service is another step towards reaching this goal,” he said.
These results were achieved following the government’s decision to enter into partnerships with private companies, he added.
“We need the private sector to participate in what the government is doing – especially in view of the fact that SmartCity will be opening in a few years,” he said.
Local companies needed to be geared for the challenge of SmartCity, said Dr Gatt.
“We need to prepare our industry for SmartCity – a lot of large players will come to Malta and Maltese private companies need to be ready to provide the work they will need,” he explained.
SmartCity would be a unique opportunity for all local businesses, said Dr Gatt.
Mrs Cristina explained that there were 32,000 people who benefited from children’s allowances and the ministry had to process these applications between May and June.
The government would increase the number of services available online in the near future, she added.
“All these services are user-friendly and if someone does not have a computer or internet connection at home, they can use the computers at various local councils,” said Mrs Cristina.
Applying for children’s allowances online cut bureaucracy and made the system more efficient, she added.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Juan Ameen
Quelle/Source: The Malta Independent Online, 02.03.2007
