Chamber dismayed at increase in bus drivers' compensation

Christian Sciberras

Feb 7th 2010, 00:48

Carmel Cilia - Maybe because we're talking about the GOVERNMENT not the CURIA???
How can you blame the government for Maltese citizens' incompetence?
I'm not saying the government is any good, but darn it, compare Gozo Channel with MIA Airport will you?

Christian Sciberras

Jan 29th 2010, 12:34

smifsud - Who cares for a WW2-class bus?
By your comments, I'm sure you're a comfortable driver, the rest of people which HAVE to use the bus service can't stand them.
I want service, not a rotting piece of metal, some buses even has the flooring removed, showing the road below. Other have missing/broken windows, unsuitable chairs and lots of other problems.

I'm incredulous with people like you, seriously you don't expect me to eat worms to preserve Neolithic culture, do you?!

Put them in a museum or scrap them, they ARE NOT road worthy, they provide a huge disservice to clients/tourists, need say more?

Those buses are history. Period.

Carmel Cilia

Jan 29th 2010, 09:27

Sorry from what iI can gather up till now we are going to see the same drivers and make use of much the same buses. Where is all the change going to be. It has become an established fact that it seems our government has much more faith in non maltese than in its own citizens. This results from all the foreigners that have taken over our contry vizLotto(Greek) telemalta and Smart City(arabs) Malta international Airport(Austrians) SeaMalta(Italians )Mid Med(HongKong) and the rest of everythingelse.
This seems to be quite a different cry from what the P.N.used to tell us about faith in ourselves. What faith, from how they are dealing with the common citizen re the water and electricity tariffs, they have even forgotten their religious christian beliefs.

N. Bonello

Jan 28th 2010, 23:39

Besides the 55 million being had now can someone tell us how much the bus drivers got from subsides and other compensation through out the years for giving us a 'service' ?

Also, can someone give us and idea how much the new operator will be PAYING to get the concession ? - Hopefully a LOT more than 55 million ?

Jesmond Micallef

Jan 28th 2010, 22:44

Indeed, Mr. Christian Sciberras. Those buses are not up to SPEC !!! Full Stop.
They are unsafe, they pollute, and even the access is completely not in order. Here, I consider people with pushchairs and people who use a wheelchair !!! Come on, THEY ARE HISTORY. GOOD BYE !!! What I find abit of a shame is that these buses were actually indigenous technology, buses built in Malta. !!! A skill that will now be lost. However, if I remember correctly there was a British company that did offer a bus designed to Maltese Specifications and that these would have been built in Malta. I think the company was called Dennis of Guildford in Surrey, UK. Anyway......thats how it goes I guess. I can do nothing about that.

Furthermore, where is the decency of the bus drivers, they drive while talking on the mobile, they listen to the radio set loud on the loudspeakers, taking to passengers in a rough way !! I have witnessed this myself when I was in Malta for Christmas and the New Year.

Finally, I think this package is quite generous. It closes this issue once and for all.

With my best wishes.

Joe Grima

Jan 28th 2010, 21:13

@ Alfred Farriugia: "Can the President of the MCCEI let us know how much money the Maltese authorities pumped in grants and given tax holidays and exemptions to Playmobil Malta Ltd. over the past 40 years"

Your comment makes me want to throw up. Playmobil is a jewel in Malta's industrial crown and does not deserve offensiive comments like this. The company has invested almost every year that it has been in Malta. It has expanded and created more and more jobs for our youngsters under the wise leadership of a great Manager, Helga Ellul. The Maltese people should thank Playmobil, its German owner Horst Brandstatter and the perrenial Helga Ellul for staying the course when times were tough and fior still being here so many decades after opening its doors..On behalf of all Maltese who appreciate the valuable contribiution given by the Company to our economy and to our export revenues over the years, I apologise to Playmobil, to Horst and Helga and to the company's directors for the inane comment by an Alfred Farrugia of unkonwn origin. Some people would look and sound better with their mouths shut. Alfred Farrugia would be a prime example

vincenzo galea

Jan 28th 2010, 21:13

well said Ms Ellul. I'm afraid it's not the minister's money you see. It's our money and he's ever so generous with it. We have had to endure endless years of cheating, blasphemous drivers, who acted worse than criminals with the public. Now they get rewarded with 55,000,000 euros and a 10 year work contract. Despicable and unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Oh and by the way, regardless of the new employers, have you seen the bunch of thugs on tv tonight. They're the new elite of the new bus company. Yeah right !

Steve Sant

Jan 28th 2010, 19:29

@J.Busuttil
12% premium.
The National Bank of Malta shares were sold to the likes of Banco di Sicilia and Middlesea for a song at par. Lm1 per share, so they bought a couple of thousand shares in 1978 and now those shares are worth hundreds of Millions. What amazes me in this whole bus driver compensation, is that for some it's ok to compensate, but for others it seems "not". Justice delayed is Justice denied.........37 years of injustice?!

R.Gauci

Jan 28th 2010, 19:22

@ J Busuttil
The point is not the 55 million euros being forked out on compensation but how much this will contribute for our islands to have a better public transport system in this so called reform?
I have the following question to you which may be you or someone else can answer:
Were all the mentioned 513 licensed buses working everyday?Cause some were kept in Garages for long time!
How much profit some of them did during long years of getting subsidies and mixing their fuel and leaving deadly exhaust behind them?
How much new faces will be interested for a bus driver job at 9486 euors wage per year ?
By keeping some of the present drivers and guarantee them their job for ten years how much the new service will be good?
I am not against helping the bus owners which were misled and invested and made debt to get the new buses the king long type and are ready to improve their service but not everybody did this!!
People are fed up by a lot of promises and the squandering of their tax money without any returns because of incompetence!

smifsud

Jan 28th 2010, 19:20

to all who think the buses should be scrapped ...you are destroying part of Malta's history and culture ...i am sure the "old buses"can be used in another form of service and at least they should keep some of the oldest buses as a tourist attraction in some form ...its unbelievable that the Maltese dont even consider these buses of any importance ...wake up people as you dont know what you have until you LOSE IT!!!!.....ok the new buses are needed for sure BUT DONT get rid of all the old ones keep them and use them in another form as to keep these icons of Malta alive forever .....I LOVE MALTA !!!

Edgar S. Galea

Jan 28th 2010, 19:11

I am in full agreement with the Chamber. The Government was, and still is, short of money to alleviate the pensioners albeit, in the bus drivers case, he found money to thrown down the drain. The old buses are worthy to be scrapped. Moreover, how much did the Government receive for the licences issued because the licences were issued by the Government during bygone years. Once, a Labour Government threatened them that he will take the licences away from them when they wanted to strike.

Nigel Lawrence

Jan 28th 2010, 18:54

It's not just the Chamber that is dismayed.

Darren Cassar

Jan 28th 2010, 18:47

Does this government want a revolution before calling an election??

A Farrugia

Jan 28th 2010, 18:40

The Nationalist Party (the whatever goes party) is hostage to its pre electoral promises....and it is incredibly sad to see that the taxpyers; the hard working families are the ones to pay the bill.

fabian muliet

Jan 28th 2010, 18:32

Why the compensation?? for all the bad service throughout the years? and if it's a 'reform' why is the government offering the drivers a job with the new opperators? where'nt they the problem after all? i mean a bus is a bus, it's the person behind the wheel that gives the service!!

Karmenu Vella

Jan 28th 2010, 18:15

Cowboy Gonzi with people money.

Alfred Farrugia

Jan 28th 2010, 18:04

Can the President of the MCCEI let us know how much money the Maltese authorities pumped in grants and given tax holidays and exemptions to Playmobil Malta Ltd. over the past 40 years? What is the value of the land offered by the Maltese authorities to Playmobil Malta Ltd. at its current premises and the previous ones? How much money did Playmobil Malta Ltd. save in subsidized rent during the past 40 years?

It is easy to criticize, but one tends to forget how easy the authorities made life for some of the same spokesmen or women of local industry.

http://www.businesstoday.com.mt/2009/02/25/t2.html

Perhaps this government should be more sensitive to everybody except bus drivers and owners!

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090611/local/government-should-be-more-sensitive-helga-ellul

Michael Spiteri

Jan 28th 2010, 17:57

@J Busuttil
And what about the sale of Mid Med Bank, or rather give away, to HSBC by the PN? "Ghaxar miljun lira l-hemm jew ghaxar miljun lira l-ghawn x'differenza ser taghamel"? Remember who said these words with reference to OUR money?

D Camilleri

Jan 28th 2010, 17:52

J Busuttil, the chamber is criticising the amount in compensation, not the idea of any compensation. But paying very high compensation when its not your money is easy.

Joe Grima

Jan 28th 2010, 17:51

The Chamber is absolutely right. A manufacturiung industry in dire straits with waning exports and competitivity torpedoed by government itself, not least by the increase in tariffs on electricity and water, deserves much more assistance in maintaining job levels than bus owners. Our highly mismanaged tourism that sees hoteliers closing down for the winter and occupancy levels winding down to levels beyond one's imagination, totally , deserve a lot more support in getting this vital industry out of the woods than the bus owners. .Rewarding bus owners with an astronomical figure for giving Malta one of Europe's worst transport services, deserves nothing short of national contempt for a Givernment gone berserk. Austin Gatt is very generous with our tax money. After all, this tax and spend Government knows what to do when Ministers' overspending dries up Government coffers. Cut down on social assistance, blame single mothers for practically everything, remove the safety net that is there for the 60,000 now living below the poverty line and for those who are poorer still. get the Central Bank Governor to hammer in the notiion that Government cannot give from what it dioesn't have and then tax again. Isthu jekk baqghalkom zejt f'wicckom!.

Brian Farrugia

Jan 28th 2010, 17:27

Bi Flus il-Poplu

Kollox Possibbli

GonziPN - Muscat PL.

Christian Sciberras

Jan 28th 2010, 17:20

The buses should be scrapped and bus drivers sacked. Not only non-drivers (such as me) have to withstand and depend on WW2 tech, but also all the surplus ignorance expressed by such drivers, including public indecencies, swearing and other unprofessional behaviour (such as the complete disregard of a timely schedula).
I must admit that same drivers do their job very well and I would be very displeased to see them lose their jobs.
As such I would suggest drivers need to perform and pass through a QA test during the reform.
Throwing cash at all of them only breaks this industry further, increasing the number of "bad" drivers. The 10-year guarantee only furthers my arugments, where any employee stops furthering studies by the time s/he starts work.

Regards,
Christian Sciberras.

Mike England

Jan 28th 2010, 17:12

I understand the owner/drivers are being paid over 100,000 euros for each bus that can't be worth more than 5000, and are being given 10 years guarenteed employment. Sounds like a good deal to me!

J Busuttil

Jan 28th 2010, 17:04

The Chamber is wrong. The state has taken the business of public transport from the owners so by right they should be compensated. Or did the Chamber fancy some '1973 National Bank' takeover by the Labour Governmet without compensation and then the said Labour Govt selling it's shates with a 12 % premium?