The Nationalist Party has called on the government to immediately publish the agreement signed yesterday with Arriva.

In a statement, the party said the agreement should be published in full because of public interest and to give the full picture to whoever may be interested in operating the bus service in the future.

The party said that it understood the difficulties which the bus service had seen while it was run by Arriva. But one could not ignore the fact that the reform had also brought about a number of new facilities and services.

The reform had seen the introduction of modern air-conditioned low floor buses which did not harm the environment and were easily accessible for persons with mobility problems.

Fares had also been reasonable, and reduced for the elderly, students and other frequent users.

Now that the bus service was in governemnt hands, the PN said the people expected the service to be improved in line with what the party in government had promised. The government should set the example in its management of the service, and the new operator would then be expected to follow it.

The PN also called for a transparent process for the selection of the new operator and hoped that there would be no suspicion of any agreements reached in advance.

It also augured that fares would not be raised, as the Labour Party had always said, and that the jobs of the employees would be safeguarded.