From the online comments

Twenty-five new diesel buses to be introduced

At this rate, we will soon revert to coal burning. Cannot expect any better from Labour. – Scott Brown

The buses will be green (painted). – Anthony Calleja

Purchased new from Cyprus? Does Cyprus have a diesel bus construction industry or are they perhaps ‘leftovers’ from an order Cyprus decided it didn’t need or want (perhaps because they are diesel)? A lot of untransparent background to this procurement methinks... – Kevin Bonnici

 “The current fleet includes 32 12-metre buses and one minibus, but any expansion would require significant upgrades to the charging network.”

This translates to: “We do a lot of talking about electrifying Malta but, as we don’t actually take any steps to make this happen, we went ahead and bought the most polluting option instead.” – G. Fenech

Oh really? Are they powered by heavy-fuel oil, which the PN had chosen for its power station, or do they have “Euro VI engines, the strictest and cleanest emissions standard for diesel vehicles. Euro VI engines significantly reduce harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter, making them cleaner than older diesel engines”? – Manwel Debattista

The new diesel buses are being purchased from Cyprus.

Another certificate of failure by the Labour government! Why do we have a minister for energy when our energy infrastructure is in shambles?

Important thing is we continue to play with planning policies to ensure concrete towers continue coming up.  – J. Pace

No planning whatsoever anywhere. Whoever would have thought that running electric vehicles required a charging network? – Silvio Camilleri

“Euro VI engines significantly reduce harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter, making them cleaner than older diesel engines.”

Does “reducing” mean they are perfect for the environment or can they still cause health problems? – Mario Attard

Just shows the utter shambles these idiots have brought Malta to. First they introduced a massive spike in population, now importing diesel buses to go with the diesel generators (remember fabbrika tal kanċer?) to ferry these people about and to pollute further. – Steve Fenech

Cyprus will be celebrating 25 Christmases on the 25th of each month not only December after this windfall deal! Couldn’t have timed it better to offload a millstone hanging from their neck. Who would have thought that any country on the globe would go for the dying donkey? Just when fossil fuels have been shown the way out the whole world over, here comes Malta and sucks them up.

Has Transport Malta and/or the government done any homework reading cancer-causing diesel nanoparticles to which there is no filter and which lodge permanently in the lungs? Like asbestos. Dying to make it happen, the deal must have come with a handsome commission for whoever engineered it. – Catherine Grima