Former minister Joe Brincat has asked the Ombudsman to investigate Transport Malta over the bus service.
The action is his second salvo after he filed a judicial protest against TM over the way the bus routes for the new service was drawn up.
He has also been collecting complaints from disgruntled commuters to use them as evidence in court if he gets to the point where the situation is not resolved and he opens a civil case. ( brincat.routes@gmail.com )
In his letter to the Ombudsman, Dr Brincat wrote:
"I am writing in my own name and as a citizen of this country. My complaint is against the Awtorita' ghat-Transport f'Malta.
"The Awtorita' is certainly a public authority and falls under your jurisdiction. I have a personal interest in my complaint, as I have been using buses to go to Valletta and return back to Marsa, since October 2009, save when someone gives me a lift, either way.
"Since July 3, 2011, I have found it difficult to calculate when certain buses leave the Valletta Terminus. Compared with previous experience, nothing became predictable. The bus company Arriva has committed itself to time-tables which are not being observed, in any way. Delays often occur, besides gross unpredictability.
"On two occasions, the delay was so long that I decided to walk it from Valletta to Marsa. It may not be that distant, after all. Midway I was once given a lift when I had already arrived at Blata l-Bajda, and I did not refuse because he was an old friend and a client, and on the other occasion, it was my niece who was passing incidentally near the niche of St Anne in Floriana.
"Although there has been some improvement, the matter is not truly being monitored. Under the old system, there was a dispatcher from the PTA who would make sure that the bus leaves on time. I had only to be at the terminus a couple of minutes before the quarter of the hour, and my trip was guaranteed.
"Now the Authority is duty bound by law to supervise and guarantee that any bus company, whether the old or the new, would observe rigorously the timetable indicated to the public. It is duty bound to monitor and take action. Often the Authority stated publicly that it was monitoring. If it was, the results are not showing. It is its duty to take action.
IDENTITY CARDS
"The second complaint is regarding identity cards, which drivers of a private bus company request. The Identity Card Act makes it imperative that a public officer can ask to view the identity card. The law setting up the Authority mentions that it may appoint enforcement officers. These enforcement officers have the right to request viewing the identity card. But drivers are not enforcement officers. Consequently this is both against the law and illegitimate.
I submit these complaints for your consideration."