Strikers rewarded

For as long as I remember, there have always been clashes between the government of the day and bus owners, but never, as far as I know, were they paid (in the form of government subsidies) for the days they were on strike.

Is it possible there is no lasting solution for public transport? Will it become another bottomless pit for taxpayers's money, as the Drydocks has been for so many years until it was decided to privatise the yards - at an additional substantial cost to the country in the form of golden handshakes?

It is unbelievable that bus owners got €165,000 as a subsidy for the four days that they were on strike. But, the greatest insult to the public came from the Transport Ministry which is reported to have said that the money was given as a gesture of goodwill.

If the Transport Ministry wants to make a gesture it should have given that money to Enemalta to be able perhaps to reduce energy bills; that would have been a goodwill gesture towards the entire community.

This 'gesture' to striking bus drivers is in fact rewarding those who had left you waiting at bus stops, causing you to report late for work, and those who turned violent against those who tried to help stranded passengers. Yet, despite this 'goodwill gesture' bus drivers are still threatening the government with another strike.