Queues of people were recently waiting at the bus stop adjacent to Howard Gardens in Rabat, to go to the airport, the Crafts Village and Valletta, among other destinations.

A bus, no. 181, stopped, and the driver was asked if the bus goes to Qali 3 – which is the stop for the Crafts Village. He raised his index finger and waived it from left to right for a few times, meaning no.  

Twenty minutes later bus X3 arrived. We asked the driver the same question, and this is the conversion that ensued: We: “Does this bus go to Qali 3, the Crafts Village?” Driver: “I don’t know”. “What do you mean you don’t know; aren’t you the driver?” Driver:  “I no Maltese!” We:  “So what? Where are you going?” Driver:  “I don’t know!” We: “The schedule says this bus goes to the Crafts Village.” Driver: “I don’t know.”

So we take a seat and hope for the best. And a sign of relief soon came when the first announcement on the bus was: “Next stop is Qali 3”.  We relax but not for long. When the bus came to Ta’ Qali, it did not take the left turn to go to the Crafts Village but kept going towards Valletta.

We jumped out of our seats and told the driver he had to take the left turn. He replied: “I don’t know.” We told him that there were people waiting to go to the airport. His reply: “I no Maltese. I go straight.”

We had no choice but to calmly alight and walk to the village from the Rabat Road. To add insult to injury, less than two minutes into our walk a bus passed us, heading towards the Crafts Village. What a desperate situation!

Thank you Transport Malta for a Guinness Book of Records well-deserved award for the worst public transport disservice on earth.