All minibuses transporting schoolchildren must have seatbelts, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo insisted yesterday.

It was unacceptable that students were put in any danger, he said.

Mr Bartolo was reacting to a report in this newspaper that said close to five per cent of minibuses did not have seatbelts, despite the vehicles often being used to transport children to and from school.

This amounts to some 58 vehicles which were manufactured before 1998 and are exempt by law from having to provide seatbelts.

In comments to this newspaper, the minister said the figure was of grave concern and promised to look into the matter and take necessary action.

“Of course this is a concern. We must take action because nobody would want this for their children. I’m very worried,” Mr Bartolo told the Times of Malta yesterday. On what action he would be taking, Mr Bartolo said that it would first need to be established which schools and routes were affected, urging the transport authorities to also investigate the issue.

We must take action because nobody would want this for their children. I’m very worried

A Transport Malta spokesman had told this newspaper that while there could be minibuses manufactured before 1998 doing the school run, parents had every right to refuse such services.  On this, Mr Bartolo said that while parents of children in independent and Church schools could refuse the service since they were paying for it, those with children in State schools did not have this option. State school transport is free of charge.

“Either way this needs to be looked into, especially by the transport authorities,” he said, adding that he empathised with parents who were made to pay higher fees and yet were still facing such problems.

The minister also lambasted a recent ruling by the competition watchdog which concluded that fees charged by a transport company were not excessive.

“So we are being told prices are not excessive because safety measures are being implemented but at the same time this is happening. We will definitely look into it,” Mr Bartolo reiterated.

Earlier this summer, parents complained about the lack of seatbelts on mini-buses, with some reporting incidents where children were thrown off their seat when drivers braked suddenly.

When the Transport Malta spokesman was asked about this, he said the watchdog did not inform parents when their children would be travelling on vans without seatbelts, adding the authority “registers, licenses and inspects vehicles, and acts immediately on reports received”.

Questions on whether any action on the issue of seatbelts will be taken by Transport Malta were not answered by the Transport Ministry by the time of writing.

The government has for years been encouraging parents to use minibuses instead of driving their children to school to cut down on traffic congestion. In the 2014 Budget, the government introduced tax rebates meant to encourage parents to use the vans, offering a tax credit of up to €150, depending on the number of children.

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