I am not one to complain because I am very fortunate to live on Gozo and be part of the Maltese community, however, I feel this issue needs to be addressed.

My husband and I recently went through the long process of obtaining the new ID card. Yet, after eight weeks, we still do not have it although we do have the blue receipt with all of our details and our photo.

The other day, we travelled to Valletta by ferry from Gozo and had a lovely day until we boarded the 41 bus to come home.

I showed our blue receipts to the bus driver who said they were not valid as some of them were forged. So I showed him our health cards. No, these were not acceptable either as a form of ID.

So my last chance was my Maltese driving licence. He then allowed us both to get on the bus and pay the €1.30 two-hour charge. I find this quite incredible as the driving licence applies only to me and not my husband as well while the two blue ID receipts and health cards were not sufficient.

Please, can we have a little common sense and less discrimination? Maltese citizens do not have to wait to obtain their new ID cards, so why should we have to, just because the ID office is overloaded with applications?

And, please, can someone tell Transport Malta and Arriva that the blue receipts are our ID cards until the new ones come through?

They took our old ID cards and our residents’ permits when we submitted out application.

A little more common sense would go a long way.