The Arriva saga continues on a daily basis. The more we read about our public transport system the more worrying the situation appears. Did Joseph Muscat promise in a pre-election speech to rid the country of bendy buses?

Could anyone really go to the extreme of sabotaging three such buses within a few days of each other? Would anyone really wish to jeopardise Malta’s economy by causing disruption for everyone, directly or indirectly?

Is it true that some drivers’ intention is only to create chaos? I do not have the answers to these questions but if these allegations are true then Malta is the loser.

To those who wish to throw Arriva out, they should keep in mind that such a decision could lead to a number of people losing their job. It could take many months, if not years, for another company to establish itself in Malta and take Arriva’s place.

Arriva have been losing money since day one of its operations in Malta; after spending months training drivers around 150 sabotaged the service on the very first day causing havoc for weeks after. Furthermore, Malta Transport had devised impractical routes which had to be changed, and not only once, as complaints poured in regularly .

Bendy buses have their drawbacks; however, before the latest incidents cropped up there were few complaints. In fact many commuters praised these buses for being able to carry a large number of passengers.

Routes X1, X2 and other X routes as well as 222,12 and 13 (notwithstanding the traffic chaos in the St Julian’s Sliema area) functioned and operated well .

Bendy buses are still used all over the world and if serviced and inspected on a daily basis should pose little difficulty.

Should these buses be withdrawn, double the number of normal sized buses would be required to service the routes. This would still create the same level of traffic problems .

There are no winners in this worrying situation so I am appealing to both sides to reach a compromise which will prevent more millions being lost.