Updated: Government announces emergency bus service
(Adds routes of emergency bus service)
The government will provide an emergency bus service from tomorrow, with routes from 13 destinations to Valletta, Transport Minister Austin Gatt told a press conference this afternoon.
He said the government would also provide a service of ferries between Sliema and Valletta while chauffeur-driven cars would be allowed to act as taxis for a charge of €15 per trip.
Dr Gatt said the transport workers had a right to strike, but no one had a right to disrupt other people’s lives. Incidents such as those witnessed today, including the blocking of roads and incidents involving white mini vans, as well as the clash outside Castille were unacceptable.
When he spoke on the background which led to this dispute, Dr Gatt said he had gone to Cabinet about the liberalisation of licences for hearses after talks with the association representing the owners of hearses, where no agreement was reached.
He was, however, surprised by the industrial action taking by the owners of mini-buses. Taxis and route buses. The liberalisation of mini-buses and taxis had not featured in the government plans. And as for the buses, he had already had talks with the president of the Bus Owners’ Association, Victor Spiteri in view of EU requirements.
He explained that the EU had presented three alternatives – a service run by SMEs, a state-run service, or a service awarded after an international tender. The government had originally opted for the former in association with the Public Transport Association, but the EU had rejected that, viewing it as a way to circumvent directives. Dr Gatt said the government had committed itself to present proposals to the association by the end of summer. Yet Mr Spiteri told him today he did not trust him, Dr Gatt said.
The minister stressed that the government was in favour of liberalisation wherever it benefited the country and consumers.
He said that since 1999 the government had subsidized the bus service to the tune €41 million since 1999.
The routes of the emergency bus service will be the following:
Route A Cottonera
Route B Żabbar/M’Scala
Route C B’Buġia, Zejtun, Gudja, Għaxaq
Route D Żurrieq, Safi, Kirkop, Qrendi, Mqabba
Route E Żebbuġ, Siggiewi, Qormi
Route F Attard, Rabat, Mtarfa, Dingli
Route G B’Kara, Balzan, Lija
Route H Mosta, Naxxar, Għargħur
Route I St Paul’s Bay, Ċirkewwa
Route J Gzira, Sliema, St Julians
Route K Mater Dei
Route L Buġibba, Qawra
21 Comments
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Rene Attard
Jul 15th 2008, 08:21
Enough is enough! Dear Minister, can you keep track of the hours being wasted by private and government employees due to blocking of roads (which is illegal) and add it to the €60k per day of subsidies not being paid. They DO have a right to strike but NOT in this way.
E Camilleri
Jul 15th 2008, 07:11
The government should use this strike as an apportunity to liberalise the public transport. We cannot be held at ransom by a bunch of thugs.
Chris Vassallo
Jul 15th 2008, 02:01
The transport reform has been delayed for twenty years. WHY?
Last Saturday’s Times reported that government officials gave pre-election assurances to operators within the industry. It was reported that some operators made substantial investments on account of these pre-election promises. Before we move to deny the fundamental right to protest with challenging big talk and cancelling contracts, we need an official statement on what had been promised before the election. If those promises were diametrically opposed to principles of free trade, then Gonzi has a serious credibility issue.
Gonzi is indeed facing many credibility issues. For example, Gonzi’s pre-election promise to reform MEPA was yet another deceitful promise. We’ve seen the Forth Cambridge charade and the appointment of a close associate to chair the MEPA board. What’s the score for reform and credibility? I give zero points to Gonzi on both.
Josef Grech
Jul 14th 2008, 23:30
41 million Euros in susidies!!! Wow!! A lot of senior citizens go by bus nowadays than!! Hmmm, and Minister Gatt wants a liberalised enviroment so as to have more private investmet in the sector!! Who is going to invest if there is no return? Please readers don't get this thing about subsidies down your throat, its only a picture the Govt. wants to show the general public in order to turn them against the operators in the field. Unfortunately, the Assosciations of the sector fail in putting forward their situation to the public. Maltese people deserve much more than just bla bla bla. 600 Milion Euros have been spent out of each one of our taxes, still no proper assesment was made and no plans incorporated a bus terminus, thus we have a situation where we had to improvises a terminus without any facilities for the commuters or the drivers!! Who is to blame for that? I am not talking about our old terminii here, but about a new development which both parties contemplated and non of them ever had a true policy in favour of public transport.
Alex Ellul
Jul 14th 2008, 23:04
The strike in support of the hearse-owners' monopoly is something not to die for, excuse the pun. Its a lost cause. I have the right to open up any type of legal business, including taxi service, funeral service, bus, coach, plane, ship, vegetables, fish, engineering, you name it. All monopolies go against our basic human rights. So to all strikers: get back to work and play the economic game correctly. The consumer will chose from whom to buy the service, not the reverse, that is, you lumping us with a shoddy service at best. This is finished thanks God , Gatt and Gonzi.
Mark Portelli
Jul 14th 2008, 23:02
with 41 million euros? I would have offered drinks and aircondtion on the bus.
Sophia
Jul 14th 2008, 22:49
Yaay!Go Austin! Now I'll just need to find where these buses stop tomorrow.. But hey , where are they going to get the drivers? What kind of buses will they be? How much will the fare be? How often will they pass?
james bugeja
Jul 14th 2008, 21:52
Tomorrow is one of malta's busiest days at the airport - most arrivals being from our most important market, the UK. Is our airport run by white cab drivers? Can MIA keep the airport safe for its clients? Our cabs have a bad name on worldwide tourism press, can they only make their own situation worse?
alison micallef
Jul 14th 2008, 20:46
What about the airport.? How are independent travellers supposed to get to their hotels.
Is anyone considering their predicament?
We should make tourists our first priority; if necessary the army should be used to bus them into their hotels. We are in July for goodness sake. Is anyone dealing with this.
John Polidano
Jul 14th 2008, 20:33
With 41 million euros, even assuming a high price of 100,000 euros each,
the state could have bought a whole new fleet of 400 new buses
which could be up an running tomorrow.
SUBSIDIES DO NOT WORK!
And with monopolies,
the state gives the monopolist the pistol with which
the monopolist can then keep the state at ransom for ever.
Monopolies and subsidies should go.
If a subsidy is given,
it should be given only directly to the consumer
eg a transport card to all
for which the bus owner gets money
only if we actually use it.
R. Balzan
Jul 14th 2008, 20:22
Dear Michael Debono
If my choice is between being led by Brussels or being led by the bunch of thugs who were in Valletta this morning and who felt they could hold the country hostage because they oppose liberalisation, then I opt for the former. Malta is no more independent if it is ruled by people who have no intention of respecting the law and who feel they are owed a living by the country (and my taxes).
Well done Austin...
Michael Debono
Jul 14th 2008, 19:41
"He explained that the EU had presented three alternatives – a service run by SMEs, a state-run service, or a service awarded after an international tender". Malta Minsiter Dr.. Austin Gatt.
Is Malta independent. Is the Maltese goverrnment responsible or is Malta led by its nose from Brussels.
We must change the geography of the Island and say Malta capital Brussels (no longer Valletta).
A state run service??? And this comming from Brussels who wants us to privatise everything?
And to pay no subsidies? Most probably it is a translator's mistake, or what's written does not mean what it says?
robert Pace Bonello
Jul 14th 2008, 18:57
Well done Austin Gatt. The general public has been held to ransom for far too long by these thugs. A breath of fresh air at last !!!!!!!.
Simon Swartz
Jul 14th 2008, 18:49
For me the government wasted its money. The state of the bus service given to the public till now shows that a better investment could have been made.
Luke Buttigieg
Jul 14th 2008, 18:41
Go Austin Gatt!!! Finally the bus service is getting what it deserves.
Joseph R Aquilina
Jul 14th 2008, 18:38
That's the way to handle them - fair and firm.
Anthony A.Mifsud
Jul 14th 2008, 18:32
Well, Dear Mr. Minister, I have been promised Serhan Il Moh !!! and Light Bulbs too.
I am off for a dip, ciao
v Zammit
Jul 14th 2008, 18:26
41 million euro for a rough ride!!!
John Polidano
Jul 14th 2008, 18:18
AUSTIN ROCKS!
S Cremona
Jul 14th 2008, 18:17
Way to go! I work in a liberalised market and no-one guarantees my work.
Even i invested thousands in my business so that is no excuse.
David Vella
Jul 14th 2008, 18:16
Hopefully the closing of the airport main road will be the final nail in the coffin for the transport workers. They are definitely digging their own grave which isn't so much of an issue I guess since they are merely dead weight!
With their arrogance I don't blame the gov for arriving to a dead end on the negotiations