Two mediation attempts fail

Two attempts at mediation in the public transport dispute failed to break the stalemate yesterday as the public today faces the consequences of what many have defined as anarchy on the roads for the third day running.

Both sides stood their ground, with Transport Minister Austin Gatt pledging to resign if the government backtracked on its decision to liberalise the hearse sector.

Several organisations and political parties have rallied behind the government's stand and the decision to stand firm against the operators' bullying tactics.

The police began to make their first arrests in a bid to restore some calm on the streets and four mini-bus drivers were arraigned last night accused of attacking a van shuttling tourists. They were remanded in custody.

The day started badly after the government's emergency bus service was stopped at 7.30 a.m., just 90 minutes after it started, because of incidents in which a van's windscreen was smashed and people intimidated.

A double-decker tourist bus was ambushed by striking operators who intimidated sightseers and forced them to get off the vehicle, leaving them stranded in Pietà.

The police were also kept busy at the Valletta Waterfront at 10.30 a.m. when some 100 policemen stopped taxi drivers from disrupting the service provided to cruise line passengers by chauffeur-driven cars.

Police presence was visible along most arterial roads as they brought in reinforcements to battle the obstructions created by 1,200 striking transport operators.

They were also on high alert because the strike coincided with the visit of Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The frustrated public questioned why the police was not slapping the drivers, who recklessly blocked the roads, with parking tickets; if they got one a day they would think twice about obstructing main arteries. Otherwise, they proposed that buses be towed out of the way and St Anne Street, in Floriana, cleared.

However, Police Commissioner John Rizzo smiled at this suggestion: "We're not talking of tickets, this goes beyond tickets. I'm not saying they're not breaking the law and we'll take action. Plus, how can we tow a bus? We don't even have tow trucks that can haul such big vehicles".

Meanwhile, the strike dealt a double blow to families who were unable to bury their dead and the number of bodies at the Mater Dei Hospital mortuary reached 24 in just two days, almost half the mortuary's capacity. A number of sittings at the law courts were put off because witnesses failed to turn up because of the strike.