Official 'no' to bus owners' higher compensation claim

As the bus owners' industrial action entered its second day, Transport Minister Censu Galea yesterday ruled out meeting demands for better compensation for all 508 operators.

The Public Transport Association has directed owners and drivers to stop the public transport service at 6 p.m. instead of 11 p.m. It wants the gross revenue of its members, who number 508, to rise from Lm10,200 to Lm15,000, with expenses then being deducted from this amount.

But Mr Galea said the association was missing a basic point; there could not be enough revenue to cater for all the operators. Malta, he said, required 300 to 350 operators with vehicles of different sizes and not just large buses.

The minister said it also had to be kept in mind that this was a commercial operation that was failing every day. The basic fact that had to be accepted was that there were too many operators.

The owners also had to understand that the government had already made too many concessions, he added.

Association president Victor Spiteri however said the PTA would never accept a reduction in the number of permits or the setting up of a new company to replace the current one, as is being proposed.

He said the association yesterday morning had a meeting with the Malta Transport Authority during which it presented its requests for an increase in compensation.

With the bus service stopping five hours early, worst affected are workers returning home from work in the evening.

The Consumers' Association urged the authority to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

It said it believed a radical change was needed in public transport. The public was no longer prepared to continue paying for the service through their taxes and would not make use of the service unless it was improved. The association also expects the authority to make public its plans before the changes are implemented.