Bus strike hits state schools

A large number of students will have to sort themselves out today as the bus owners' association informed the government yesterday the strike it called on Monday will also after the state school transport service.

The Education Ministry deplored the short notice, saying the association was contractually obliged to give 10 days' notice before taking such action.

"We had no choice but to ask parents and students to provide the transport themselves," a spokesman for the ministry told The Times.

"The measure mainly affects secondary school students. We'll see what we can manage to sort out for tomorrow (today). It's really unfair but there is nothing we can do."

The ministry does not recognise the legitimacy of involving the Education Division in the strike, saying that the issue the Public Transport Association has with the Transport Ministry has nothing to do with the Education Division which now threatens to take all the legal actions possible.

The PTA called a general strike on Monday after it had given the Transport Ministry and the Transport Authority a 48-hour ultimatum the previous Friday over a dispute on subsidies and reform measures for the route service.

The first day of the strike yesterday was characterised by a complete deadlock with no communication taking place between the ministry, the authority and the PTA.

Speaking to The Times, Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett said the government was prepared to "weather the storm", insisting he will not give in to pressure.

Equally forceful was the Prime Minister who during a PN activity earlier in the day said the government would not be "blackmailed" by the strike.

The government is insisting that the subsidies owed for last year amount to Lm1.25 million, a substantial improvement on subsidies for 2004. But the association is asking for Lm1.3 million (Lm50,000 more or Lm98 per bus).

Out of the Lm1.25 million pledged, the government still has to pay Lm150,000. In fact, during the discussions, which led to Monday's standoff, the government had proposed to pay Lm100,000 immediately and the resulting balance on March 15, after settling the issue during talks.

But the major bone of contention is the reform the government wants to introduce. The reform measures were spelled out in the Halcrow report - a technical document prepared for the government some time back.

The association is disputing some of the measures but, most of all, it is insisting that the reform should be introduced after discussions and not by being imposed.

Mr Mugliett said the government was tying the subsidies to the reform. "We were prepared to discuss the disputed subsidies but I will not accept that we keep going on, year in year out without change," he said.

The government yesterday extended its emergency bus service to the Junior College and the university.

Subsidy offered by government justified

Replying to questions by Labour MP Noel Farrugia yesterday, Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett insisted in Parliament that the subsidy offered by the governemnt to the Public Transport Association (PTA) was considered justified and fair in terms of the formula agreed between the two parties.

The subsidy, he explained, was based on the principle of guaranteed earnings after calculating expenses and revenue. Adjustments were made every year on the basis of costs for fuel, maintenance and salaries, among others.

In August last year the government calculated the subsidy as being Lm1.25 million while the bus drivers demanded Lm1.3 million, a difference of Lm50,000. Eventually, actual revenue figures showed higher than projected income from fares last year, meaning the bus drivers' request became more unjustified, Mr Mugliett said.

There were also a number of outstanding issues between the two sides, including fines totalling Lm6,000 imposed by the Transport Authority after new buses whose purchase was heavily subsidised by the government were not used on the routes as much as they were supposed to have been.

Furthermore, it had resulted that some 40 drivers operated buses without the required ADT tag. The ADT therefore felt that their salary should be deducted from the subsidy, since a component of the subsidy was addressed at driver training.

Mr Mugliett said the PTA recently asked the government to transfer Lm200,000 to it. The government had been prepared to hand over Lm100,000 and had intended doing so last Monday during a planned meeting, but the PTA did not turn up and called a strike.

Reacting to other questions by Mr Farrugia, Mr Mugliett asked whether the opposition wanted bus fares to be raised. A 5c fare rise at the beginning of last year had yielded the operators an additional revenue of Lm1.5 million. Had that increase not come about, the difference between the subsidy the governemnt was proposing and what the operators were demanding would have been Lm800,000 and not Lm50,000. Still, the opposition had been critical of the fares review last year.

Mr Mugliett insisted that the subsidy covered all fuel and other cost increases the bus owners had faced.