Arriva has agreed to “consider” appointing a Maltese management team but there is no guarantee, the Transport Ministry has clarified.

This newspaper sent a list of questions to Transport Minister Joe Mizzi after he told a press conference on Monday that Arriva had agreed to allow Maltese bosses to take over.

“The foreign people at the top of the company were oblivious to the Maltese mentality and tried to introduce work practices which may make sense abroad, but not here,” Mr Mizzi told a press conference.

The minister’s comments prompted questions about Government interference in the inner workings of the private company, which had won a 10-year tender to operate Malta’s public bus service.

It also raised concerns that replacing Arriva Malta’s foreign managers simply because they were not Maltese may fall foul of EU legislation on employment and freedom of movement.

Mr Mizzi’s spokesperson clarified that the minister has not made any demands about the appointment of a Maltese management team at Arriva.

In a high level meeting, regulator Transport Malta had expressed “serious concern” to Arriva about its appointment of managing directors and senior managers who did not stay in Malta long enough to ensure “continuity in the smooth operation of the business,” the spokesperson said.

This was causing “operational issues”, as negotiations between Transport Malta and Arriva had to start practically from scratch each time there was a change in Arriva’s management.

The current managing director, Mark Bowd, was the fourth Briton to hold the position since Arriva began operating the public bus service in July 2011.

It was with this in mind that the idea of appointing Maltese managers was proposed and Arriva agreed to consider this, the spokesperson said. “Transport Malta has no remit to involve itself in the operational management of Arriva; it is only the regulator,” she added.

Arriva refused to comment on remarks made by the minister.

The Arriva spokesperson would only say: “We are in constant discussions with Transport Malta and the Government on ways to improve the service.”

Arriva Malta forms part of the Arriva Group, a pan-European public transport group headquartered in England and owned by German company Deutsche Bahn.

Although it does have some high-ranking Maltese personnel, many senior positions are filled with employees from elsewhere in Europe.

In 2010, the company won the tender to operate Malta’s public transport system according to conditions set by the previous government.

Timetables, routes and journey times were originally devised by the previous administration and its consultants.

They have been revised several times since with input from the operator and other stakeholders.

Drivers have complained about pay and working conditions, including the practice of working split-shifts.

Passenger gripes about tardiness persist and Mr Mizzi said on Monday that the service would be reformed with new routes and extra buses by next year.

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