Bus driver denies any racial motivation

A bus driver yesterday insisted he barred two black men from boarding his vehicle because he believed one of them had recently been sick in his bus.

The driver was questioned by the Malta Transport Authority following questions sent by The Times over claims that he had ordered Eritrean immigrants Aman Hiyabu Drar and Yonas Maosho off his bus when they tried to board it at the Valletta terminus on Sunday morning.

The two men, residents at the Marsa centre, said that after the incident they approached a transport inspector who agreed to speak to the driver. They were told that the driver refuses to take black people on his bus and that he was angry with illegal immigrants.

But the driver is insisting his actions were not driven by racist sentiments. On the contrary, he claimed that two of the other passengers on board the same bus were immigrants and he acknowledged that immigrants actually helped business.

A spokesman for the ADT said yesterday: "He thought one of the men in question had been sick on his bus and that's why he reacted the way he did. We made it very clear he still had no right to take unilateral action".

The bus driver said he was also prepared to apologise in person to the African men for "snapping" at them.

The ADT questioned one of the inspectors on site who agreed with the driver's version of events. Therefore, the ADT is not in a position to take any disciplinary action for the time being.

Police inspector Pierre Micallef Grimaud met the immigrants and the bus driver at the Valletta police station on Monday evening.

Insisting that the police were prepared to clamp down on discrimination, Mr Micallef Grimaud urged any individuals who felt victimised to file a report at the nearest police station.

The driver's comments were received with scepticism by the people running the Marsa centre, who held that such incidents were not uncommon.

Centre manager Terry Gosden asked whether the authorities were prepared to take action when a driver acted independently and arbitrarily.

"Although I don't know this driver, I know the two people in question. They're very tidy men and they don't drink," he said.

"I find it strange that the driver's version seems to be changing all the time... but I heard they were refused on the bus because they were black and it was repeated in front of a number of people, including inspectors."

If an immigrant was really sick on his bus, then he should have reported such a social irresponsibility at once to the police, Mr Gosden said.

He said residents have frequently told him that some bus drivers have a tendency to drive past immigrants if there were no Maltese commuters waiting at the bus stop. Immigrants have now been told to try and take photos of such buses where possible.

"A lot of bus drivers do their work diligently and treat people with respect and all my residents are grateful for that. Others, sadly, do not," Mr Gosden said.