Unscheduled transport operators shun reform plans

A coach owners' association and a trade union are irked that the unscheduled transport reform did not reflect the agreement reached with government.

The Unscheduled Bus Service and the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin said the sector's liberalisation, as launched by the government on Monday, did not reflect what had been agreed upon and they were particularly concerned about a transitional entry fee intended to discourage new market entrants.

The two organisations, and others involved in negotiations with the government, complained they were never shown the final draft of the reform or informed about its launch.

On Monday, Transport Minister Austin Gatt announced the liberalisation of the unscheduled transport market and reform regulations were published yesterday. According to the regulations, in order to be eligible for registration, coaches and vans could not be more than five years old and must be replaced once they exceeded 28 years from their manufacture date.

However, there were transition measures whereby, for the first five years, vehicles over 28 years could remain on the road. For the next six years transport vehicles with over 11 seats and older than six months would have to pay an entry fee - ranging from €11,000 to €31,000 depending on seat capacity.

Unscheduled Bus Service chairman George Hyzler said the government exemption of new coaches from paying the transitional entry fee went against what had been agreed just last week. This caused an unlevel playing field with regard to present coach operators who had paid to obtain their licence.

UĦM section secretary Nicholas Baldacchino said the union was concerned that the entry fee would work against white mini-van owners who it represented. Unlike coaches and red mini-vans, the white van market was always open. This meant that the fees would work against liberalisation because owners who wanted to improve their service would have to incur a fee they never paid before.

The union objected to the way the government had pushed draft legislation before Cabinet without any consultation. Plus the Bill included criteria that was never presented to the union.

"This goes against any sense of liberalisation and undermines the government's aspirations for a superior quality service," the union said, appealing to the government for effective consultation before taking such decisions.

The entry fee was also a bone of contention for the Minibus Cooperative. Its chairman, Charles Mercieca said the cooperative never agreed with the fees proposed by the government. This was because they were far too low and did not compare to the expenses incurred by present mini-bus owners. Mr Mercieca added that, although it was true the mini-bus business had dropped by 40 per cent over the past years, this was not due to bad service as alleged by Dr Gatt, but the result of a drop in the birth rate, the closing down of textile factories and other factors.

He said cooperative members would soon be meeting to analyse and discuss the regulations before deciding what action to take: "We are not excluding anything."

Similarly, Rent-A-Car Association president Tony Meli said members would be discussing the regulations before pronouncing their position.

The Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, which represents the Gozo bus owners, expressed "surprise" at the launch of the reform. GRTU transport representative Joe Attard said the government's behaviour was "unethical" as it was only common courtesy to inform associations about the final draft after consulting them.

The Transport Ministry said in reply that it was its duty to find balanced solutions when deciding between conflicting and contradictory interests.

"Balanced solutions require compromise and compromise requires that every interested party gives up on parts of its original position... The government itself had to depart from its original position when the White Paper on liberalisation was first announced last year," a ministry spokesman said.

Initially, the government did not plan an entry fee, yet it reluctantly agreed to allow this for a short number of years.

Specifically reacting to USB's concerns, the spokesman said that, given that an investment in a brand new coach was a high-risk affair that "we do not want to discourage in any way, an entry fee should not be applied in this case".

However, it was to be expected that owners of older coaches were unhappy with such a decision but this was in the interest of the island's tourism industry and the quality of transport provision in the country, the spokesman added.