Ministry claims PTA 'hid' details of bus service talks

O Galea

Jan 25th 2010, 17:03

I say make them scrap their buses or sell out for all they are really worth on the market and start the system anew. Retain the classic ones in a museum or use them for folklore/touristic journeys around the island. Why should the citizen who was rarley ever made comfortable through all these years, fork out 50M out from his taxes for the bad service provided through the history of the Maltese public transport? This is not fair especially when the bus licences and permits are government property and when the owners were allowed a free spirit to bargain transfers with geat profits. They have enjoyed monoply for 70 years and that's it. How many strikes did the pubic suffer for a promise of better service which never came? Now we are in the new millenium and although compassionate with the past, we must thrive towards the future with a modern and state of the art public transport that befits the present times and the Maltese well being..

Michael Spiteri

Jan 25th 2010, 14:05

I have lived in Fgura for these last 40 years. Back then the bus fare was 2c and we had to rely on the Valletta Zabbar route. The fare was revised to 4c after a strike. We where then promised a better service. Shortly after it rose to 6c, again, promised a better service. To cut a long story short, in 30 years and a few strikes the fare multiplied fivefold from LM0.4c to LM0.20c, always being promised a better service. Then I ask myself, have the Fgura commuters seen any changed to the service in all these years (apart from undergoing three different color schemes)? Absolutely nothing, as I still waste precious time every morning along with a throng of furious commuters watching full-up buses speed by our fare stage. So much for a better service!

C.Zarb

Jan 25th 2010, 12:15

Its seems that we are going to get the same service at a much higher price. Well done.

You can't expect better from the same brains who were behind projects like the Mater Dei Hospital and the management of Enemalta, MEPA and Malta Ship building.

D Borg

Jan 25th 2010, 11:30

Who are these bus drivers and what sort of social injustice is this?

If my services as a self employed are not required anymore will the governemnt come over pay my loans, take over my equipment and give me a 10 year job security? The first requirement for candidates to be employed with the new service in Malta should be that one had never worked or was related to this market before, otherwise there will be no change as happened when Hon. Censu Galea paid out millions to the same people some years ago, what changed since then?

Let not give these people another chance to take us for another ride, they had been doing it for far too long.

S. Zammit

Jan 25th 2010, 11:21

You are generalising too much... I know a handful of drivers who are competent in their job and who after all deserve to keep it. It would be terribly unfair if they are stereotyped together with some ill-educated, rude, non-stop cursers. Not to mention a private company would not stand to losing money to these drivers and they would soon find themselves without work, and rightly so.

Anthony Briffa

Jan 25th 2010, 10:56

As usual the PL tries to make cheap political advantage of anything. The majority of the owners/drivers, besides the necessary training in anything under the sun from manners to cleanliness, to languages, to respect to the passengers, need rehabilitation into the civil society. The memory of the uncivil shameful acts of July 2008 are still fresh in everybody's minds. They still call the bus 'it-truck' as if they are employed/licensed to carry loads of material instead of passengers. It is about time that the authorities put the interest of commuters first, take a firm stand and close this matter once and for all. Even the 10 year job offer has to be conditional to personal improvement and subject to a probationary period.

Alexander Hilton

Jan 25th 2010, 10:38

It does not feel right to generalize that all bus drivers are bad. There are many decent workers in that profession and yes a good number of bad ones as well. as in many other professions like restaurants etc.

There is no need for a 10 year job guarantee at all. First of all the new operator will need new drivers. To be a bus driver you need to have a corresponding drivers licence and permit. People that fit that description do not grow on trees, hence its only natural to recruit the existing busdrivers. The only guarantee I would give them is that if they stick to the rules, put on a friendly face and provide a solid service they can keep the job. If not they will be out the door. Dont forget that a private operator will put different controls in place to monitor the service level. Every person deserves a second chance, even a busdirver. Its up to everyone himself how long his job guarantee will last. Good boys will have no problems, bad boy will be phased out.

Chris Finch

Jan 25th 2010, 10:07

Who on earth would take on a business where the previous employees have a 10 year job guarantee? Especially employees who are rude, arrogant, abusive, ignorant, ill-dressed and incapable of doing the job they are being paid to do in a professional manner.
All I can see from this reform is that we will have the same poor service at a higher cost.

C Cassar

Jan 25th 2010, 09:02

The citizens of Malta deserve a complete change of personnel within the new transport system this year. Not a single existing bus driver/supervisor/manager should be allowed to participate in the new system and absolutely not a single cent of compensation should be paid to anyone involved in todays joke of a service.

Take a look at the bus/transport systems in countries sucha as Germany. This is what Malta needs, clean efficient, regulation complying vehicles and personnel. No one currently involved meets these requirements.

J Azzopardi

Jan 25th 2010, 08:13

It should be remembered at all times that, like the most of us, bus drivers are workers carrying out a job which in their case is a public service. However it must be stressed out that most of the shortcomings in the service as well as the general bad reputation of the people involved is entirely their doing. Each bus driver must bring it's act together and be committed to provide a decent service. The PTA also needs to pass through the buzz process of this period REFORM.