Low-floor buses will be sold for €13,000 each

Anthony Pace Gouder

Feb 4th 2010, 02:14

The CROWNING GLORY of all this so called Reform is .......... A "GOVERNMENT CREATED " MONOPOLY !

Kathy Elliot

Feb 3rd 2010, 12:11

@ C. Zammit

WORD!

Anthony Pace Gouder

Feb 3rd 2010, 10:24

@ Joseph Grech
Amazingly their efficiency is SUPERLATIVE when it comes to raising W&E bills , surcharges , licences and other consumer fees etc.. besides applying new revenue measures .

Otherwise they may seem to be at a LOSS of running the country ,or we are too naive (simple minded) to understand the STRATEGY behind these senseless actions . I don't think its money down the drain!

Daniel Cardona

Feb 3rd 2010, 09:40

Most likely the tender winner for the new operation is another blue-eyed boy. This is the only logical explanation to this farce. Can't wait to cast my vote in a few years.

G.Pisani

Feb 3rd 2010, 09:20

Hemm huma il-par idejn sodi!!

C. Farrugia

Feb 3rd 2010, 09:15

As somebody has already stated: WHERE IS THE REFORM?

Same bus drivers!!?? (With the exception of a very few, they have NO idea how to treat the public, including some hair-raising driving "treats"!)

The Majority of the Maltese, will BELIEVE it, when they SEE it! We're tired ot *talk, talk, talk".

C.Zammit

Feb 3rd 2010, 01:06

Unbeleivable!!!!!! A low floor bus has cost us taxpayers a fortune to say the least!!!

One low floor bus purchase price was circa €105,000 of which we taxpayers paid £74,500 in subsidy i.e. 71%.

Now, once again the taxpayer will fork out some €123,000 to repurchase, a second hand bus which was originally paid from our money at a higher price than its cost price as new i.e. 17% higher.

To add insult to injury, this same bus will be sold at the miserable price of €13,000 i.e. 10.5% of what the govt. will pay! Will the new operator pay the difference as an operations license for each bus?

To summarise, if I understood well, for a low floor bus costing €105,000, the tax payer paid €184,500 and got nothing in return except from air pollution, bad manners and a mediocre service, while the bus owner paid €30,500, made profit by operating it and now will even make a fortune by getting a net return of €92,500!!

Well done Austin!!.....I wonder if on a personal level ever crossed your mind to make such similar deals! If yes, then it will be good to deal with such a generous person.

Joseph Grech

Feb 3rd 2010, 00:51

P.M., Cabinet especially Austin Gatt and Tonio Fenech - you have let taxpayers down so miserably you should feel ashamed - had you not been so arrogant.
This issue and especially the economically disactrous terms of the ''agreement'' go to show one thing: you do not really know how to run the finances of this little island properly.
And in today's paper Tonio Fenech laments that government is owed millions in unpaid N.I. contributions! While some time ago he lamented that it is owed milllions by tenants making use of government property (factories, etc) without paying the rental fees! And remember: millions were lost forever as a result of the VAT scam! Minister Fenech should have been asked to resign a long time ago.
This administration just SPENDS blindly but is ineffective at collecting government dues. Certainly some people are having their illegal ways too often.
How's that for ''efficiency'', a steady pair of hands indeed! No wonder we are in such serious economic straits!

david calleja

Feb 3rd 2010, 00:04

Great business we've been doing lately... AirMalta 31 million in the red, 55 million for buses we had already paid for and which we'll apparently get back on the streets....58 million to the dockyard... for which we'll be getting 10 million back... 80 million for a parliament most of us don't want...
one question - will someone, anyone, please tell me why people like myself who work in the private sector are second class citizens when compared to people with the governmnt or the useless corporations we have?.... someone?... anyone???... this is now really not funny anymore - what a disgrace!!!

N. Bonello

Feb 2nd 2010, 23:50

So after paying €123,000 for each bus we then spend more to -
'The price also DEDUCTS the cost to refurbish them and refit them with the fixtures required by the tender document, re-spraying them and the cost of shipping them over to Malta from the UK, including insurance.'

So instead of the New Bus Operator having to spend money to buy buses or refurbish them we will pay for all that and they get them for Eur 13,000 (price of a family car).

My money well spent - No. We pay and the operator keeps all the profits. No wonder this country is going down the drain.

DMifsud

Feb 2nd 2010, 22:11

It seems that in this country its better that one doesn't study, lays back and relax and even better if he is arrogant. After all, all those hours spent learning about the fundamental of maths were all wasted as it seems I cant get my calculations right!!

Katia Mifsud

Feb 2nd 2010, 20:54

somebody needs to brush up their math !!!
disgraceful !

Stephen Florian

Feb 2nd 2010, 20:51

Nero plays his lyre and watches the city burn.....remember the havoc and anarchy these buses caused in July of two years back ? And now they get rewarded...there must be some catch in this .What's up next: flying carpets for public transport ? Why does it still smell of kerosene when you get stuck behind a maltese bus...?Any more monkey business up their sleeve...?

Frans Attard

Feb 2nd 2010, 20:27

The greatest 'sale' of the millenium.
'Guiness Book of Records' director, please note.

C.ZARB

Feb 2nd 2010, 18:34

Same buses, Same bus drivers and a half baked reform lead by the same people who masterminded MEPA, Frontex and the management of the Malta shipbuilding. All wrapped by a much higher bus fee which everyone will have to pay.

Well done Austin.

T Camilleri

Feb 2nd 2010, 18:15

Ron Saliba
You are wrong Ron. The license costs whatever is paid to the ADT. It is not what the owners used to ask to a transfer their bus. It is because the incompetent authorities allowed them to trade their licence which is government property which could be revoked at any time.

david piscopo

Feb 2nd 2010, 17:44

im very dissapointed ,same old story weak with tthe STRONG, malta shipyards,bus drivers taxi drivers minibus owners,strong with the weak,all of us.

John Schembri

Feb 2nd 2010, 17:24

Rob the many, those who can scarce afford it, to make the rich far richer. Great public tender this, subsidized by taxpayers money. Another Austin Gatt brainwave. Come and ask me for my vote next election. This government should hide its head in shame.

Ron Saliba

Feb 2nd 2010, 17:09

Do any of you know how much a bus license used to cost? If not, than you really should stop making a fool of yourselves.
Maybe we should have waited 7 yrs for the reform, cos that is what the bus owners were promised before the election. and than, how much compensation would have been required?

Have any of you seen any contracts of any bus? Those are the root of the problem and that is why the owners are getting these absurd sums.

@E. Azzopardi (2 hours, 43 minutes ago)
Surely the licence does not cost €92,500. BEATS ME !!!!

Do some research mate. You'd be surprised.

And PLEASE can everyone stop confusing bus OWNERS with bus DRIVERS?

James Micallef

Feb 2nd 2010, 16:21

Unbelievable incompetence on the part of the government not to mention worse. If the buses cost E13,000 on the 2nd hand UK market, the current owners shouldn't have been offered more than that. Especially since the we paid most of the original purchase price from our taxes anyway. Offering extra money for the "license" is ridiculous, since most drivers are also being offered a 10-year guaranteed job with the new operator.

The offer should have been either take the E123000 for the bus and go find yourself a job OR E13000 and the 10-year job guarantee. Not both!!! Whoever was doing the negotiating on the government side just threw almost 15 Million Euros at the bus drivers as a reward for incompetence, intransigence, unprofessionalism, refusal to provide a proper service and outright blackmail.

I wonder what will happen when the new operator realises what quality of employees it will have to work with. And what disciplinary action can they take if their employees have a guaranteed 10 year contract and can't be fired. Or will they be fired by the new operator and have the rest of their contract paid AGAIN by the government ie our taxes.

Godfrey Zarb

Feb 2nd 2010, 16:16

Nahseb li din tal-buses l-ahjar nghatuha lil Peppi Azzopardi ta' XARABANK biex itella programm fuqha,forsi nifhmu x'qed isir jew x'ga sar. Jispjegaw lill-poplu Malti xi ftehim sar mall-kuntrattur il-gdid biex jaqdi u jaghti servizz ahjar milli kellna. U dan ghandu jsir qabel u mhux wara li l-gvern ikun fattarha.

P. Degiorgio

Feb 2nd 2010, 16:02

Kif dan Austin Gat ma jistghax jaghmel wahda tajba! Jew qed jaghmel krucjata biex iwaqqa' l-Gvern?! Gennata wara gennata, u kull wahda balbuljata!

Muscat Pat

Feb 2nd 2010, 15:03

Tumbling exports, gaping current-account deficits, fearsome government spending, nasty recessions and now the 55 million donation to old bangers, sound like ingredients of a distant third world country. Yet , this mess has been cooked closer at home, and many middle class voters see this fracas as outrageously unfair on them. The PN led government has been on a binge fuelled by government borrowings, and yet instead of reforms we got botched experiments, wasting the suffering of the hard earned tax collections that the middle class had to endure. Surely someone has to pay for this folly? Bailing out bus owners by the millions, will be hard for PN to sell on the doorsteps when elections come. Its time for those responsible for this mess to let go, and renew themselves on the opposition benches before we reach a point of no return.

Anthony Pace Gouder

Feb 2nd 2010, 14:59

AFFARJIET LI MA JITWEMMNUX ! XARABANK "FIXED" u veru FIXED PRICE = Eu 13.000 ......u TAHSBU LI SER JIBQGHAW JINTUZAW TLETT SNIN BISS ? DAQXEJN TINTEN DIN ! ALL MALTA BEING TAKEN FOR A RIDE .

Anthony Pace Gouder

Feb 2nd 2010, 14:36

THE BUSES WILL BE SHIPPED TO THE UK (?) FOR REFURBISHMENT ETC.ETC. THE COST OF THIS OPERATION IS BEING PAID OUT ENTIRELY BY OUR GENEROUS GOVERNMENT, MORE SPENDING AT TAXPAYERS' EXPENSE . THUS THE PROSPECTIVE OPERATOR IS ONLY BEING ASKED TO PAY Eu 13,000 FOR EACH BUS (A PURE SUBSIDY). ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE OPERATOR HAS BEEN APPOINTED ?
RE-SALE PRICE OF125 BUSES x Eu 13,000 = Eu1,625 ,000 !!!!!! REAL CHEAP INDEED !
ITS NO WONDER MANY COULD SMELL A RAT IN THE GOVT,S EAGERNESS TO ACQUIRE THE FLEET AT ALL COST .
NOT SURPRISING , MORE THAN 70% HAVE EXPRESSED THEIR DISAPPROVAL FOR THE SQUANDERED 55 MILLION EURO SHAMELESS COMPENSATION !

Joanne Micallef

Feb 2nd 2010, 13:44

Speechless

E. Azzopardi

Feb 2nd 2010, 13:37

If the low floor buses cost so much and the government subsidized so much, then the owners paid €30,500. So why did they receive €123,000 for the bus? Surely the licence does not cost €92,500. BEATS ME !!!!

C.Caruana

Feb 2nd 2010, 13:27

So wee going to have the same old buses, the same drivers, higher tariffs, and a dozen richer people

Rachel Attard

Feb 2nd 2010, 13:08

Il-Gvern ixerred id-dqiq u jiġborr in-nuhhala!

A. Mifsud

Feb 2nd 2010, 12:50

I stand to be corrected on this comment, but I'm quite sure that I've heard nothing about mentioned in the Governments' proposal.

All across the world (especially in Europe) more and more public transport nowadays runs on LPG - liquiefied petroleum gas. This fuel is more cheaper to run, and much much more cleaner to burn than diesel, thus reducing drastically the impact on the environment. Eventhough LPG is not available at fuel stations (as yet) - the government could have set a move by which more and more passenger cars in future could be converted or readily imported to run this kind of fuel. ...Again an alternative that would have extended benefits to the masses by means of utilising cheaper fuel to run and cleaner on the environment . Thus eliminating millions of CO2 tons in emissions over a span of years.

But it seems that the ministry's cost cutting efficiency's calculations simply fell short of considering such options. Even though all the fuss about efficiency and rhetoric on environmental impact assesments the government preferrred to stick to Euro III (already obsolete) chinese technology rather than considering cleaner and cheaper alternatives.

S. Mallia

Feb 2nd 2010, 12:42

Absolute corruption! And everyone stays quiet about it. Thats the new Malta. Those with their fat wallets benefiting from this scheme laugh and keep hiding, but if you are reading this message, you know who you are.

Raymond Portelli

Feb 2nd 2010, 12:35

If "Each bus cost around €105,000 of which the government subsidised €74,500" why on earth are the bus owners compensated as if they had paid for the bus themselves?

€30,500 investment for a €123,000 return on top of a 10 year job guarantee seems like a very good deal for the bus drivers/owners.

I wonder if minister Gatt would be as frivolous with his own money. It's always 3 steps forward (as we do nothing for ages then implement a rapid fire "solution") 10 steps back in this joke of a country.

Farmers who couldn't run a farm, run this country.

Raymond Portelli

Feb 2nd 2010, 12:35

If "Each bus cost around €105,000 of which the government subsidised €74,500" why on earth are the bus owners compensated as if they had paid for the bus themselves?

€30,500 investment for a €123,000 return on top of a 10 year job guarantee seems like a very good deal for the bus drivers/owners.

I wonder if minister Gatt would be as frivolous with his own money. It's always 3 steps forward (as we do nothing for ages then implement a rapid fire "solution") 10 steps back in this joke of a country.

Farmers who couldn't run a farm, run this country.

D. Scerri

Feb 2nd 2010, 12:27

@C Micallef

"Scandinavian buses where the sun is never seen"

You never heard of the Midnight Sun in Scandinavia?

Yani Ellul

Feb 2nd 2010, 12:05

i.m not sure ifi understood correctly but is the plan to ship the busses to the uk to get them refitted and sprayed??

if so, i think this is a big mistake, as we have many people capable of doing the job here in malta. it also would mean extra business for the sprayers, car paint importers, refitters etc... its what everyone needs to get the wheel turning. why do this overseas??

Paul Caruana

Feb 2nd 2010, 11:27

All I can say at this stage is that this reform better be good, otherwise the government will face the music!

C Micallef

Feb 2nd 2010, 11:04

I advice the authorities concerned to consider the following specifications as well:

1. Adequate leg room. This is particularly felt in the made-in-China buses because their people are relatively shorter than the average Maltese.

2. Big windows for hot climate. This is particularly an issue with Scandinavian buses where the sun is never seen!

3. Bus route numbers on both front and rear windscreens that remain visible in bright sunlight.

A. Mifsud

Feb 2nd 2010, 10:51

THIEVES...

Shame on whoever is responsible to see that tax payers money is properly spent...

All money down the drain with the excuse of reforming the public transport, same busses, same drivers, same service (presumably)...nothing will change afterall.

The majority of people do not ever use public transport and most pobably never will, but still the taxpayer is paying through his nose to subsidize heavily on public transport.

K. Mifsud

Feb 2nd 2010, 10:46

T. Camilleri is perfectly right.

This is clearly state aid because the buses are being sold at a price lower than their market value (i.e. there is a subsidised element).

The government may argue that the price is based on the UK import price, but this sounds very unconvincing. The following statement is telling: "The purpose for this estimate (of €13,000) was not to artificially burden the price of the public transport tenders by the imposition of these buses on the winning bidder."

Therefore, unless the measure has been notified to---and cleared by---the European Commission, it is being granted in violation of the so-called notification and standstill obligations, i.e. it is illegal state aid.

If this is illegal state aid, it will likely be subject to a Commission recovery decision a couple of years down the line---ordering the Maltese government to unconditionally recover the effective value of the aid plus interest from the operator. This will apply even if it makes the new operator go bust.

Adrian Sciberras

Feb 2nd 2010, 10:44

€185,000 x 500 buses = €92m / 400,000 = €231 per head....

Govt gave us €100-€150 per household for increase in W&E, and assuming an avg household of 3 ppl, we have to pay around Lm300 (€700) to subsidize these lousy buses.

Unbelievable... That is the cost per taxpayer! Does the EU know about this?

P.Scicluna

Feb 2nd 2010, 10:43

SHAME on you Lawrence
People need a fast explanation.
are we going again second hand after paying off €55 million?

Noel Zarb

Feb 2nd 2010, 10:31

So buying a Fiat 500 is more expensive than buying a bus...I wish I didnt go to University, and became a Bus Driver...I would be filthy rich :)

J. Baldacchino

Feb 2nd 2010, 10:16

Wait.. am I getting this right?

So each 'new' bus cost the government...
€74,500 + €123,000 - €13,000 = € 184,500?

And this makes sense... how?!!

T Camilleri

Feb 2nd 2010, 10:04

What a joke with the peoples money.
This amounts to state aid to the new operators which is illegal.
How about the EU Representation taking up this matter with the Commission

Jeffrey Mallia

Feb 2nd 2010, 09:59

Unbelivable.......really unbelivable......So this Govt paid euro 74500 to buy these bangers, paid up another euro 123,000 a total of 197,500........and they're selling for euro 13,000....and the worst thing is, that we're gonna have the same old bangers on our roads spuming diesel fumes.....well done Gonzi PN.....well done