As a visitor to Malta I remember the old buses, and they were good. I was surprised on my last visit to find Arriva with expensive bendy buses and expensive fares. It is hard to see how they failed.

I wonder why the Maltese government thought the only way forward was to opt for a Spanish company. From what I have read it is win win for Spain and lose lose for Malta.

As an engineer with over 50 years commercial experience, I find it hard to believe that Malta does not have people in the bus industry who can run the public transport service.

They know the island, the passengers and local conditions.

It is probable that if the government is directly involved, there would be too many tiers of management, thus failure built in.

I would have thought that another look at the Island Buses Malta offer is warranted, as the government is very free with an offer of €24-29 million. I am sure they would make good use of this astounding handout.

I can only assume no elections are due soon. I can’t help wondering why the government should even consider the Spanish option.