Transport authority discussing shuttle service for cruise liner passengers

The Transport Authority is in talks with the Viset cruise terminal consortium over the possible introduction of a shuttle service for tourists disembarking from cruise liners berthed in Grand Harbour.

Authority chief executive Mario Falzon said this service would be more affordable than the existing taxi service and he hoped to see it introduced in the coming weeks.

The talks have been going on for some days.

Mr Falzon said this when he was contacted and asked to comment on the white taxi drivers' behaviour on Sunday when they blocked the sea terminal exit in Pinto Wharf, trapping coaches full of tourists, who had come off the Adonia, for nearly three hours.

"We are in talks with Viset to set up a shuttle service which would offer cruise liner tourists good rates. Why should they have to pay Lm8 to go up to Valletta and back to their cruise liner when they can pay, for example, a mere &euro2?" he said.

"We have to ensure that our Maltese product is competitive and if this means introducing a shuttle service to the city that is what we will do," he said.

Mr Falzon condemned the white taxi drivers' behaviour on Sunday, which he described as "illegal", and said the authority was expecting the police to take action.

"Everyone has a right to protest, but nobody has a right to break the law. What the taxi drivers did was illegal and only serves to tarnish our image," he said.

Sunday's incident happened early in the morning when the Adonia, which was on her way to Rhodes, had to make an emergency detour to Malta because a passenger required medical treatment.

In an attempt to entertain the remaining 2,000 passengers while the ship was berthed in Grand Harbour, the captain decided to pay for seven coaches to take those interested to Valletta.

This decision irked members of the White Taxi Licensed Amalgamated who said that scheduled services were being organised by agents, taking away a chunk of their business in the process.

Taxi drivers, who charge Lm4 for a one-way fare to Valletta, said they had nothing against tours but were against shuttle services being provided to the city.

However, Mr Falzon said that agents of cruise liners had every right to pre-book tours and the taxi drivers were well aware of this.

The Malta Tourism Authority also came out against the taxi drivers' protests and said such actions were not only detrimental to the tourism industry, but also to the taxi owners and drivers themselves.

"The action taken by the taxi drivers only serves to alienate the thriving cruise liner business," the authority said when contacted.

The MTA believed that rather than undertake such actions, the taxi drivers should have discussed their concerns with the other stakeholders in the industry, to ensure that tourists' needs for different kinds of transport services were satisfied.

"The MTA believes that there is ample room for different types of transport services at the cruise liner terminal, including taxis," it said.