Gatt to ‘hound’ Arriva, understands frustration

Carmel Vella

May 16th, 17:08

Those ARRIVA buses do not belong here, make coral reefs out of them. At least , fish will benefit.

Joe Fenech

Oct 10th 2011, 15:09

Gatt has not still not told us if his PN friends who were awarded the contract for the routes ever paid the money back to the nation.

ninu gale

Oct 10th 2011, 13:20

Today again a 25 minute walk in the wind from my home to get on Bus 91 to Valletta, I have to do this walk 2 times a day since 3rd July because Arriva says it is waiting for Trasport Malta to tell them to make the Bus 91 pass from Triq il -Qaliet. This is what Arriva customer care tells me when i call. So what is Trasport Malta waiting for to arrnage this Bus route? Before i had 3 buses in one hour going to Valletta now there is nothing except we have to make a long walk. After all in other areas they arranged the routes but in Marsascala it's like a vendetta with us residents.

Ms Francesca Abela

Oct 9th 2011, 19:24

Transport Minister Austin Gatt yesterday said he would “continue hounding” Arriva until it provided the bus service expected of it, in response to a university student who heckled him at a press conference the previous day.

“While I am still baffled why I should be blamed because a bus is late or because Arriva fails to respond to customer queries, I fully understand the frustration of Ms (Nicola) Abela Garrett with Arriva,” Dr Gatt said.


So why is Arriva blaming Transport Malta everytime Marsascala residents complain about the fact that Bus no 91 to Valletta from Marsascala is not passing from the largest area with residents in the village ie the Siberia area notably from Triq Il-Qaliet?? Residents have a 20-30 minute walk and repeated complaints to Arriva and the Local Council have elicited the response that 'Transport Malta is to blame for the routes'

So what exactly is TM waiting for to amend this situation very easily by having Bus 91 go in to Triq il Qaliet from Marina street and out from Triq il Gardiel. Nothing new or rocket science in this as before Buses nos 17, 19 and 20 ie 3 an hour all passed from this road, now thousands of residents are cut off from the main bus route.

Mr Henry Mifsud

Oct 9th 2011, 09:23

"Gatt to ‘hound’ Arriva, understands frustration" but ..... he still doesn't lose sleep over it!

Why? Because according to his prediction, his mind has been put at ease for the next 20 years after the next elections.

Arrogance laced with humour?

Ms Lynn Zahra

Oct 8th 2011, 16:40

How I wish I had had the oppurtunity to act as Ms.Abela Garrett did. (I have the guts to do something similar, trust me)

Since it was Minister Austin Gatt who was assigned the responsiblity for public transport, it's his duty to ensure that the public is provided with what it needs. When one's chosen contractor Cannot deliver a Minister cannot play the baffled , he should sack them for not adhering to the CONTRACT.

Arriva is in breach of its contract if ever there was one, but the Minister just stands by like a wallflower, while the public suffers.

You chose Arriva, Minister , didn't you? Now it's up to you to see that they deliver, instead of shrugging off the public's competely justified complaints as "no problem".

KM Fiorentino

Oct 8th 2011, 12:16

All that is required is simply the same routes that were provided before by the old service. More subsidy to deploy more buses to get those old routes back won't do any harm at this stage. For goodness sake, this is the only means of public transport this country has to offer offer and we still got it wrong! Too much money has been lost on this issue. Just get those old routes back, end of story.

Mr Rodnick Abdilla

Oct 8th 2011, 10:18

He should also hound his 'experts' who made a complete mess of the routes !

matthew tanti

Oct 8th 2011, 08:20

it is about time that people took nicola's example and stop wasting time complaining on websites and instead take real action, as happened in the arab world, for the government to give replies to the people whom it should be serving, instead of taking the " i know it all" all attitude when it should be answerable to the people. let nicola's action be the spark that lights the fire.

Mr Hans Borg

Oct 8th 2011, 07:51

Do you really expect us to believe that now any fault is due to ARRIVA ?? Do you really think that we are all stupid ?? You were responsible for the unacceptable routes which are the main problem with the service. But obviously, you are the all almighty Dr Austin Gatt and you can NEVER be wrong !! And you sleep well too.

Patrick Buttigieg

Oct 7th 2011, 23:31

What you have all failed to notice is that this Ms Abela Garnett is at Uni carrying out theatre studies. So her outburst could have been training or just a set up, or maybe she wanted to proove something to her fellow students or earn some respect from them.

Nicholas Grech

Oct 7th 2011, 21:24

Gatt will continue hounding!!! he hasent even started yet!!!!!!!!!!!

francis caruana

Oct 7th 2011, 20:02

mr minister if i am late to pay a telephone bill income tax ect i am fined heavily however you have still refused to fine this company.why please ..................we have all mayed our conclusions now and you say what ever you want we will never changed our minds.

A Caruana

Oct 7th 2011, 19:30

AMEN!

E. Azzopardi

Oct 7th 2011, 18:10

The minister himself should have apologized to the whole nation. Yes, his ministry is to blame because their homework was not done properly. They thought they were going to re-invent the wheel.

JOSEPH VELLA

Oct 7th 2011, 16:49

@ victor bonello
like her I'm expressing out my ideas. So what?

G Buhagiar

Oct 7th 2011, 16:34

Ghaddew 3 xhur u 4 ijiem minn mindu bdew jahdmu l-Arriva u l-problemi ghadhom ghaddejjin! L-intervent ta' dik l-istudenta jirrifletti r-rabja ta' hafna minna li ta' kuljum qeghdin naslu tard ghax-xoghol!!!! Ma tistax tippjana hin jew ikollok appuntament, ghax il-probabilta` li tasal tard. Biex nirkeb tal-linja qed ikolli mmur f'rahal iehor, ghax il-karozza tkun mimlija u terga` tghaddi karozza ohra siegha wara (meta tghaddi fil-hin).

Ma jistax ikun nibqghu sejrin b'dan it-teatrin. Il-Ministru weghdna li ha jkollna servizz eccellenti, imma sfortunatament ir-realta` mhux hekk! anke biex saru r-rottot. Qisek qed taghmel Tour ma' Malta, hafna tidwir fil-vojt u ma tasal qatt... U min ghamel il-konsultazzjoni, tar-rottot ha l-belli liri! Kulhadd jaghmel li jrid f'dan il-pajjiz. Hu komdu ghax bix-xufier mieghu, ahna m'ahniex imma! Suppost il-Ministru qieghed hemm ghas-servizz tal-poplu.

Mr Joseph Calleja

Oct 7th 2011, 15:18

Wow! A politician that does not understand his responsibilities? The reason why you should be blamed because a bus is late, or because Arriva really takes you for a scenic route through the inner city, or because it takes hours on end to get from point A to point B and because Arriva fails to respond to customer queries is the fact that you are the man in charge. You are the Minister of Transportation and you are responsible for assigning Transport Malta to come up with the ridiculous scenic routes for Arriva. The only reason you are speaking now is because Ms Garrett Abela caught you with your pants down (Figure of speech) and you were as surprised as anyone else to be called out. You should have remained in the hall and try to explain why Arriva and Transport Malta are having so many problems, and not walk away. Dr Gatt is a public figure and he must answer to the people and not ignore their pleas. I am sure there is a good explanation but he is too sure of himself to pass that explanation to us citizens. Dr Gatt we are not second class citizens, we are a people asking why the hullabaloo? You DO OWE us an explanation. Although I don't condone the vulgar language, I think that it took a young university student to bring the Arriva ridership problem out in the open. This has nothing to do with politics, because there is no separation of party ridership. Both PN and PL bus users share the same complaints except for the few die hearts. So the reason this is put on your shoulders is because you are the Transportation Minister and that makes you the man in charge. You asked for it and you got it. Go to Transport Malta in person and find out what is going on. You cannot see with your eyes closed. You are human and humans are known to err. I applaud Ms Garrett Abela for speaking out, because that is the only way anybody could open your eyes. Come down to earth Minister Gatt and try to have this Bus situation running smooth and efficiently by Christmas of this year. if anybody can do it, you can. May I suggest you go back to the old bus routes and go from there..

George Reeves

Oct 7th 2011, 14:08

Richard,
I too have been using the new bus service for some 7 weeks during August & September, whilst I fully agree with most of your comments there is still a long way to go to getting a excellent service. You are right with reference about the service from Bugibba, you want to try getting a bus from St Paul's Bay area, I have waited up to 2-2.25hrs some times trying to squeeze onto an already full bus, I quite often have to get a 129 to Bugibba then fight my way onto a bus there. Because it took me so long (2.5 hrs) to get to Valletta one day I missed an appointment. There is only one person to blame for all of this, that's the one who drew up and agreed the contracts with Arriva, it's the same as always, the public see the name on the side of the bus and blame them. As you said the main blame lies with TM. Miss Garrett just did what a lot of people feel like doing, good luck to her.

A Caruana

Oct 7th 2011, 14:01

This girl expressed what most of us are feeling, everyday one can hear curses and swear words directed at Austin Gatt and Transport Malta, especially at Marsascala where residents are still having to walk 20 or more minutes come rain or shine to gert the Bus 91 to Valletta. To add insult to injury one can see at times 3 or 4 Arriva buses waiting at the Terminus near Grabiel wasting diesel and airconditioning as they wait to get in queue, it would have made more sense to have the Bus 91 go around a 5 min detour Triq il Qaliet and Triq il Gardiel before going to the terminus and thereby serving this very large residential area.

Richard Hubbard

Oct 7th 2011, 13:01

OK I semi live in your country and use the new bus service frequently, in comparison to the old boneshaker service, well there is no comparison I find in most ways it is better. I do have the benefit of catching them at a terminus ( Bugibba ) but they are comfortable and certainly my journey times are not too bad the longest being to Valletta ( 31 ) which can take up to 1hr 10 mins. From what I understand the routes and timetables were devised by Transport Malta so how can Arriva be at fault, a bit like making a silk purse from a pigs ear. Some fine tuning may be needed but I would feel overall that the service is OK. The worst thing I saw was a driver of a full bendy bus going up Tower Road from the seafront texting on his mobile so I would guess discipline is a problem. So maybe the angst should be directed to safety as a late bus is better than one that does not arrive at all.

Charlene Debono

Oct 7th 2011, 12:38

Can I ask why the minister even has to 'hound' Arriva?? They are not doing their job right, clearly- how about we give them a deadline for a fully efficient service and throw them out if it's not met??

Francis Sammut

Oct 7th 2011, 12:35

How can Minister Gatt say, 'While I'm baffled why I should be blamed because a bus is late or because Arriva fails to respond to customers queries' Hear, hear, The Man himself has spoken! What audocity!
We are the ones who should be baffled by his past continuous rhetoric making us believe what a stupendous public bus service we are going to get come Arriva! And no Minister, don't blame Arriva. Arriva with its teething problems aside is not the one who is failing us, it is you, Mr. Delia and your Department who continues to fail us!

Michael Lloyd

Oct 7th 2011, 11:26

Kudos to this splendid young lady! Her swearing at the minister was without doubt the result of endless frustration with the bus service following the change to Arriva - something shared, it appears by many Maltese. However, the difference is that, at last, we see a direct response by the minister who, with his staff, has been keeping a remarkably low profile on this important issue. Well done Nicola; please do not lose your passion and do not allow those who grumble but do nothing else to put you off. You believed you were right to do what you did and you succeeded in getting a response. We need more people like you here in the UK as well as in Malta. Is it too much to hope that the many bus problems will now be addressed?

Phil Humphries

Oct 7th 2011, 11:00

This young woman was only expressing what countless others have been saying in these pages and elsewhere. And if the Minister cannot see why he is the target of the public's anger, then he really has been 'sleeping soundly' Or maybe he's forgotten that he inflicted Arriva on the nation ?

Hopefully there will be more Nicola's in this next generation of voters who will see things as they really are and not what colour they are.

JOSEPH VELLA

Oct 7th 2011, 10:48

Well if she was after publicity, she's got it. Who knows what's on her mind for the future? Maybe PL?

J Portelli

Oct 7th 2011, 10:43

I give this girl a lot of credit, for speaking up, non withstanding her use of "colorful expletives".

Who really cares if these clown politicans and their applogizers get offended. They work for us, after all. We pay their saleries to manage the countries state of affairs on our behalf. Everone knows Arriva's service stinks, is unexceptable- and needs to be fixed. Come on get on with it- fix the problem. It been 3 months, and we still have sub par bus serviice. Why should anyone spend 2 hours on a bus, to get 25 KM.

Christian Sciberras

Oct 7th 2011, 10:30

Her facebook, his facebook...my thought is we're living in a culture that promotes amateurism and infantile behavior.

There are countless ways to protest properly (including customer support, ombudsman...), Facebook and Twitter aren't such ways. They're just easy media to cry out loud.

Joseph Grech Attard

Oct 7th 2011, 10:10

Oh dear. What a storm in a teacup of a student airing her views! And this comes from a section of the public who say they fought for freedom of speech!! Did these same people act the same when students, in a much more lowly manner, insulted the then leader of the opposition Dr. Alfred Sant, not so long ago, when he met the students at University? On the contrary the students were applauded and praised for their actions. And then we wonder why morality has disappeared and why other life values have gone? Blame it on hypocrisy and corruption. Let's face it, admit it and then fight it. otherwise we continue to sink in the gutter where, surely, we shall not meet Nicola but the others who 'threatened' her!

John Scerri

Oct 7th 2011, 10:06

Let's hope this story is not blown out of proportion as it is being done on Super One radio by phonecalls to Joe Grima during his talk show yesterday when out of those who called there was one who said that minister gatt had better not '...jippoppa sidru...' because 'ghal kul wiehed ahna ghandna tnejn and so on...'

Mr. Joe Grima (presenter) rightly so cut this phone call short but I expected to hear Mr. Grima council this caller and others to learn to criticise the issue and not the person namely Minister Gatt.

Hot heads exist on both sides and it is the duty of all radio presenters to draw the attention of anyone going overboard with comments which disperse hatred .

Ms Abela Garret has freedom of speech and she exerted her right .

This is one very precious fundamental human right which was not allowed during past recent years when university students were beaten by thugs with the approval of a minister in power.

Claire Busuttil

Oct 7th 2011, 09:21

Sur Ministru- inti bis serjeta qed tighd, li ma tistax tifhem, ghala in nies qed jaghtu it tort lilek???? possibli ma tasalx ghaliha??? ........mela ha nighdlek ta.....ghax inti qed tithallas flus kbar min fuq il poplu Malti, bhala ministru halli tiprovdilu servizz ta trasport publiku sura ta nies, u kif jixraq lil dan il pajjiz, u lil poplu Malti.
Qatt ghadejt min fejn il junior college al hin tat 3pm-4pm? ma rajtiex il folla(ghax dik hi il kelma) kbira ta studenti jistennew fuq il bus stop, u tal linja ghadejin kollha full up?

Tahseb li ghal epoka li qed nighxu fiha, hija haga ragunata li wiehed jaghmel sija u nofs jistenna li jirkeb tal linja?

Il problema taghkom li qed tmexxu il pajjiz, taf xihni?? li kulhadd ifarfar mir responsabilita.....ara iz zieda kollha hadthuwa pero!!

victor caruana

Oct 7th 2011, 09:19

Minister Gatt, you can hound Arriva till death do us part...but to no avail....the problems are myriad and range from number of buses, routes and middle management...i said from the start you need to redraft a new contract or bring back the old system....and by the way, are you going to carry responsibility for economic loss due to the new transport system?????? If you are not to blame, who is???????

Adrian Bajada

Oct 7th 2011, 09:16

In Sliema we have lost the service of the 116 bus and now Arriva tells me this:
Good Morning,


We would like to thank you for taking your time to voice your concerns.


Kindly note that route management falls completely under the jurisdiction of Transport Malta and the routes are therefore solely designed by TM.


We shall, however, be taking note of your complaint and it will be brought to the attention of the person responsible at Transport Malta for further consideration.


You might also wish to inform the local council as this seems to be a matter which might be more properly addressed by them now that route 116 is no longer in function.


I hope that this information is relevant to your queries.


Please do not hesitate to contact us again in the eventuality that you might have any further queries either as a reply to this email or through our dedicated phone line on +356 21222000.
Thanks & Best Regards,

Ms P.M Graham

Oct 7th 2011, 09:16

"Transport Minister Austin Gatt yesterday said he would “continue hounding” Arriva until it provided the bus service expected of it, in response to a university student who heckled him at a press conference the previous day."

You can "continue hounding" till you are blue in the face, but without the support from the road users, you are wasting your time. Some i believe don't want ARRIVA to work.

My son just started work, so I decided to make sure he knew the (new) route the bus would take. As luck would have it as we left the house we spotted the bus he would take.

Follow that BUS :)

Here's what we found on the trip:

The bus seemed to be on time, give or take a few minutes.
Time was lost at the first stop because 2 cars were parked in the bus bay.
Cars blocked the cross streets so no one including the bus, could turn off.
Drivers actually blocked the bus in at one point and refused to give way even though the bus indicator was on.
A delivery driver was double parked which meant the bus couldn't get around because no one coming from the opposite direction would give way.
At a roundabout the driver followed the highway code waiting for his right turn to the constant horn honking from behind, only to be met with illegally parked cars on the junction blocking his way, and guess what, no one coming from the other direction gave way.

That horrid skinny "road" at the top of St Julian's heading up to and through San Gwan? the bus was stuck there for almost 7 minutes, until a bus coming in the opposite direction gave way, but that meant the bus that gave way had now to endure the, "I refuse to give way mentality". they would rather sit with the hands on their horns blocking the roads, which achieves?????

That street needs to be buses only. It's not like we don't all nip down the hill and up anyways and the same can be said in reverse.

The point I am trying to make is that this bus service could run like clockwork, if people would drop the (aggressive) attitude that they are the most important people on the road.

Giving way a few times on your journey, not blocking cross streets, parking legally, not going the wrong way on one way streets etc can actually make your journey faster and a small wave or a smile when a driver does give way, actually won't kill you.

Mr Joseph E Briffa

Oct 7th 2011, 09:13

Democracy in action....

Mr Joe Camilleri

Oct 7th 2011, 08:43

ALL WE WANT IS THE OLD BUS ROUTES.