Alternattiva Demokratika this afternoon urged the authorities not to give in to pressures by the bus owners in the dispute over emission testings.

The AD spokesman for transport, Mark Scerri said AD supported the authorities in their dispute with the bus owners.

"It is a known fact that Malta suffers from high ambient concentrations of air borne dust (partly due to the emission of black smoke by diesel engines), and that this pollutant has serious effects on human health. It is therefore inconceivable that heavy emitters of this pollutant such as the older buses are allowed to pollute the air without restraint".

"We believe that the VRT standards should be tightened especially with respect to emissions of dark smoke (particulate matter) so as to make sure that vehicles emitting copious amounts of dark smoke are removed from the road and are replaced with cleaner engines.

"We are also of the opinion that the current emissions reporting system has been far too lenient," added Mr Scerri.

He called for public transport reform and said the government should invest in low emissions vehicles and not repeat the mistake it made five years ago when it opted for diesel buses which at the time conformed to the least strict of the EU standards.