A “lenient” contractual clause allowing the bus operator to keep a vehicle with a critical safety breach in operation for up to two days is exposing commuters to unnecessary risks, the National Audit Office has warned.
The matter was flagged in a comprehensive analysis which the Office carried out on the 15-year concession agreement signed in 2015 between the government and Spanish company Autobus de Leon, on behalf of Malta Public Transport.
In its conclusions, the Office flagged a series of “ambiguous” clauses in case of breaches by the operator, while expressing concern at the absence of a detailed list of non-compliances.
It pointed out that the only reference point was a working document which in case of a dispute was of little use as it was not signed by both parties.
The NAO said that these contractual shortcomings led to the regulator adopting a “lenient” interpretation in terms of fines.
Moreover, concern was also expressed that this approach was also being adopted when dealing with critical safety breaches such as torn or unthreaded tyres, exposed wiring, dangerous soffit ceilings and missing fire extinguishers. Under the contract, however, the operator is given two days’ time to rectify the situation, during which the bus will remain in operation.
“This Office is of the opinion that allowing passengers to travel on board a vehicle which has health and safety-related shortcomings constitutes an action which cannot be reversed, since commuters would have been put at risk for the duration of their trip,” the audit concluded.
Consequently, it recommended the operator be bound to withdraw the vehicle from service as soon as the shortcoming is identified, and only be allowed to resume duty upon certification by the regulator.
The NAO’s overall remit on the exercise was to analyse the contract itself and assess the manner in which the watchdog, Transport Malta, was overseeing the operator’s performance.
The report points out that the bus service is handled by the Public Transport Unit within Transport Malta which is made up of just 12 employees in total including three members of management.
The audit flagged doubts on the watchdog’s capability to gauge the punctuality and reliability of the bus service as it depended on information supplied by the operator itself.
The fact that the unit is relying on GPS tracking system reports generated by the service provider is not deemed good practice in view of obvious risks, it was pointed out.
It also emerged that monthly fines related to service reliability and punctuality were capped at €15,000 and €10,000 respectively. The NAO expressed concern that when compared to the monthly €2.4 million subsidy received by the government, these were too low.
Excluding ticketing revenue, these amount to just 0.6% and 0.4% of the sum, it was pointed out. In this respect, the NAO said the penalties were not serving as a proper deterrent.
As for physical inspections aboard buses to ensure issues like cleanliness, driver conduct, infrastructure and health and safety issues, it emerged that Transport Malta only had three employees on a roster basis.
Such a number was deemed as below the minimum requirement of four officials and not sufficient to effectively monitor the service.