The claim by Arriva Malta’s managing director that the new buses will use the newly pedestrianised Bisazza Street was branded “arrogant to the extreme” and “in very bad taste” by the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprise – GRTU.

Keith Bastow said last week new route buses would still use Bisazza Street in Sliema when it begins operations on July 3, since access to the street was in the contract Arriva signed with Transport Malta.

But in a statement yesterday, the GRTU said: “It is inconceivable that a just declared pedestrianised zone be immediately made to suffer, even temporarily, any motor traffic, worst of all a steady flow of buses.”

The GRTU added that the government has already promised additional public funding to help the bus monopoly cover costs and it is now the responsibility of Arriva to resolve the problem before the new public transport service starts operating.