Malta's disgrace

I would like to address this urgent letter to Minister Jesmond Mugliett, who is responsible for public transport.

I hope that, as an elected official, he will not deem it beneath his office to respond to a Maltese citizen, and to answer a few questions.

Has Mr Mugliett ever ridden a bus from Sliema to St Julian's from 8 p.m. onwards during the summer months, especially on weekends? If he has, why hasn't he done anything to tackle the disgraceful and chaotic situation on Sliema buses during the tourist season along Malta's most frequented bus route?

If Mr Mugliett hasn't ridden a Sliema bus on summer evenings, how can he know about the long-standing problems which have been ignored by transport officials?

Taking a Sliema bus to go to St Julian's on a summer evening is a hard thing to do because buses are few and infrequent and arrive already packed with passengers.

Here's what's in store for scores of tourists and hundreds of foreign students on their bus ride from Sliema to St Julian's and Paceville.

The place is the Sliema Strand bus-stop, crowded with people waiting for a bus which arrives every 15 minutes - already full!

Passengers push their way in, others jostle their way out, and the rest are squeezed in between. Cattle never had it so bad! The hot, steamy, ramshackle bus then takes off, packed like a cow-pen on wheels. The driver is short-tempered and rude to tourists and students alike.

The ride is like a chaotic free-for-all on a bus in a banana republic. As the stressed-out bus driver races like a maniac along the Sliema promenade towards St Julian's and Paceville, other tourists and foreign students waiting at the bus stops are left stranded, hurling gestures of abuse at the bus driver.

Now for some questions. Is the minister responsible for public transport going to allow this shabbiness and chaos on Sliema summer evening bus-rides to go on unaddressed from summer to summer? What steps and measures is Mr Mugliett going to take right now to improve the chaotic Sliema/St Julian's bus route during summer evenings?

Long-suffering users of public transport would like to know, and I'd like to have some straight answers from Mr Mugliett.