Transport Minister Austin Gatt said bluntly this evening that those Arriva bus drivers who did not like their working conditions should not go to work tomorrow, and he hoped they would be sacked.

Reacting to comments by bus drivers who protested over their roster this afternoon, Dr Gatt said he had seen the protest on the internet .

It appeared that some five or six did not like the split shift offered by Arriva because they could not work part-time.

The GWU, he said, had heard the complaints, spoken to Arriva, and agreement was reached. But these few drivers did not like this agreement either and they thought they could dictate what would happen tomorrow – like they thought they could in July 2008 (when a bus strike was held).

Dr Gatt thanked Arriva and the GWU for their agreement. The government, he said, was not directly involved, but he wanted to advise those who were living in the past that the time when they dictated what happened in public transport was past. A new service with new conditions would start tomorrow.

Those who did not like the conditions should not go to work, and he hoped they would be sacked.

“We will not allow a situation where those who want to work, in terms of the conditions agreed between Arriva and the GWU, are prevented from going to work,” Dr Gatt said. Such times were past.

He said that two days ago, the Prime Minister and himself had a meeting with the president and the vice-president of the Public Transport Association (the bus drivers’ body) and thanked them for their work over the past 30 years. They had spoken and joked with each other and bid farewell in the way things were normally done, Dr Gatt said.

But those who ‘bullies’ he had seen on the internet, reminded one and all of the ugly past.

“I hope that those people and those who think like them, will not be driving for Arriva,” Dr Gatt said.

The minister was speaking during the inauguration of the new bus terminus at St James Ditch as the last yellow and orange buses left the old terminus and a few hours before Arriva took over.

The new bus terminus, Dr Gatt pointed out, marked the completion of the first part of Renzo Piano’s plan for City Gate.

The opening of the new terminus, he said, meant that the City entrance would no longer be marred by a chaotic garage, but there would, instead, be a wide, welcoming space which gave the City entrance the dignity it deserved.

The new bus terminus was also safer and better than the old one. It would separate passengers from the buses, it would provide shelter from sun and rain, it would have clear information for passengers, and it would have more orderly kiosks.

This terminus, he said, was just one cog of the new bus service, which also features 22 other sites which would be used by the buses.

These projects, he said, involved the preparation of 20km of sidewalks, 120,000 square metres of new pavement, 90 new bus shelters and 1,800 bus stops.

The new bus service would feature 186 brand new buses and 80 others which had been refurbished. All buses had Euro 5 engines, for the highest environmental standards possible.

The drivers, he said, had in total been given 50,000 hours of training. Of the 600 or so drivers, 500 were new to the service and 100 had also worked in the old service, the minister said.

Malta today had one of the oldest bus fleets in Europe, tomorrow it would have what was probably the most modern one, the minister said. Malta would also have a new route network which would be revised according to the people’s needs, while being financially viable.

The government, Dr Gatt said, had invested €10m in the infrastructure, but it expected to save €50m in subsidies and fleet renewal over the next 10 years.

He hoped these changes would bring about a culture change and the people would opt for the buses over their cars.

He was sure, Dr Gatt said, there would be teething problems and complaints. Everyone wanted direct routes, but did not want traffic congestion. No one wanted a bus stop on his doorstep, but as close as possible. No one wanted bus trips interrupted by frequent stops, but no one wanted distant bus stops.

Nonetheless, Dr Gatt said, he was confident that commuters would return to the buses, for their own benefit and that of the country.