Eighty bendy buses that were supposed to have been exported to Sudan last month are still parked in Horns Works ditch, Floriana.

Sources close to Transport Malta said that despite the commitment by the new owner to export the former Arriva vehicles, no date has yet been set.

The Mercedes buses were bought by a private company in a call for tenders last February after they were forced off the road following several fires in their engines.

The Transport Ministry has so far declined to name the company that bought the buses but Times of Malta yesterday tracked down its owner, Joseph Cassar, who also owns Calypso Garage in Luqa. He acknowledged that JDG Holdings Ltd had bought the buses for €602,000 but declined to say why the buses had not yet left the island.

When it was pointed out to him that the Transport Ministry had issued a press release stating that “the buyer is duty bound to export these buses within four weeks from the signing of the contract”, Mr Cassar said: “This was a gross mistake by the ministry.”

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