Companies bidding for the new public transport contract are not worried about the notorious reputation of bus drivers, with one operator saying his consortium could handle the situation.
"There are only 10 to 12 trouble makers. We know exactly who they are and we are prepared to deal with them", a director from one of the bidding consortiums said.
Under the terms of an agreement the government struck with bus drivers last week, whoever wins the bid to run the new public transport system will have to offer a guaranteed 10-year job to 405 of the current bus drivers or owners.
The deal controversially also included a compensation package of €53.8 million, paid in exchange for the bus owners relinquishing their licences and buses.
Only three bus owners decided not to sign the agreement they were offered.
The deal was met with criticism by many who felt the compensation was excessive and that the 10-year guarantee was anachronistic.
Chamber of Commerce president Helga Ellul said: "Job guarantees are unheard of in this day and age, let alone a 10-year guarantee, and they should certainly not be offered on top of pay-out compensation figures. This is not how the real world operates."
But four representatives from eight consortiums bidding for the contract said they were not concerned about the job guarantee.
"We were planning to employ the same number of bus drivers currently in service anyway. It makes more sense than hiring someone without experience... we even had a meeting with them in the past months," a company director from one consortium said.
"Moreover, a job guarantee does not mean these people will be above the disciplinary proceedings established by law. Employers have rights too."
The view was echoed by other potential operators who spoke to The Sunday Times. Only one of them was actually critical of the clause.
"We're not particularly concerned, even though a job guarantee is not really something you expect in this day and age, especially from a minister who professes the principles of the free market. But that's life isn't it?" he said.
However, he expressed confidence that drivers could be re-trained to a standard that satisfied their foreign partner, which runs public transport systems in major European cities.
"The majority of the bus drivers are decent, it's only a few rotten apples that spoil the basket. But in the main, we're confident that they can be trained to deliver a quality service," he said. The transport ministry has now informed the consortiums which expressed an interest in running the new service that there are 405 bus drivers - 215 owners/drivers, 10 owners and 180 employed drivers - to whom they must offer a job, and 125 low-floor type buses from the current stock which they will also have to take.
Eight companies expressed an interest in the process last September, including a consortium which includes around half the current number of bus drivers, who teamed up with Tumas Group and leading UK transport company Arriva.
The rest of the consortiums included Maltese investors such as the Gasan group, and international companies running transport systems in the UK, France, Spain, Hungary and Italy.