The Taghna Lkoll bus service – so much better than Arriva

Published: September 1, 2014 at 12:08pm

Odd buses of random shapes and colours pulled in from all over, untrained and unaccountable drivers, and this driver who told a woman passenger, when she asked him whether the bus was going to Valletta (because even destinations are unmarked now): “Itla, kemm ghandek hara ma’ sormok.”

When she objected politely, he called her a goat and mocked her with goat noises.

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22 Comments Comment

  1. Jozef says:

    This one decided pushchairs and tourists aren’t allowed to use Mizzi’s bus service.

    Times of Malta resorting to the tried and tested ‘Arab nationality’ to justify what happened. The fact he was one of the old school doesn’t matter.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140827/local/bus-driver-loses-his-job-after-assault.533395

  2. Salvu says:

    This is hilarious : Do bus drivers need a steering wheel ?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw-EXGqNlJ0&feature=share

  3. Joe Fenech says:

    Poplu selvagg, injorant u li ma jitghallem Q.A.T.T ! The only was to solve the Maltese problem is to let the country to be abused until it disintegrates. Then start afresh.

  4. Peter Bloom says:

    It is only when people, like the woman in question, are prepared to follow up their legitimate complaints with the highest authorities (even the courts, if necessary) and to give them the necessary publicity, that the authorities will start (hopefully) being proactive rather then erratically reactive.

  5. silvio says:

    It was a nice gesture by an English language school to offer to teach English to immigrants, but I think they should also try to teach at least basic English to some of the bus drivers.

    An English tourist got on a bus, he took out a Euro 5 note and asked the driver, does this bus go to the Hypogeum?

    “Poggiehom fejn trid””, the driver replied.

    • Painter says:

      What I hate the most are racist bus drivers. Now those are the real ignorant bunch.

      A couple of weeks ago, I was at Valletta and I rode the bus to go home. When we arrived at Porte des Bombes, a black man, presumably an immigrant got onboard and stood at the front of the bus. For some reason the driver told him to sit down and the immigrant responded by saying that he didn’t want to sit down. The driver insisted but the immigrant didn’t want to. Then some old man sitting told him that the inspector might fine him for not taking a seat (where the hell does that even happen?) and that he is a guest at ‘our country’ and that this is not his country anymore.

      Anyway, the immigrant found a seat and we kept going. When we got to the Marsa bridge, another immigrant who got onboard remained standing and again, the driver told him to sit down and the immigrant just went and found a seat. Then the driver turned his head towards some people and told them that ‘they’ do whatever they want in ‘our country’ and that ‘they’ are taking over and the usual racist blabber.

      Then, when we got to Paola, a Maltese man got onboard and stood near the driver and started talking to him, probably a friend. So, I wonder, did the driver tell the immigrants to sit down because they might risk falling after a sharp turn or the bus speeding up or because he still has that mentality from the days of the yellow busses and because he is ignorant as well as racist? He didn’t tell his friend to sit down in case he falls down or something, so I’m going to assume that he is racist, but also thinks that the bus we were on, (which was one of the blue Arriva buses) is his property as if we’re still living in the days of the old yellow busses.

      We got to my stop and before leaving the bus, I told the driver “Ara lil dak ma tgħidlux biex ipoġġi bilqegħda”, referring to his friend who stood near him. I got off and the driver said “U mur ja purċinell”. I walked a few steps and heard him saying something else, but I didn’t quite understand him. As he started driving again, he slowed down near me, probably to say something in an “Ejja trid tiġi għal ġlied?” manner but I just smiled and kept on going.

      I wish I recorded some of what happened with my phone and I also wish that that driver doesn’t recognise me in the future and to invite me for a ‘ġlieda’. He was a ghastly racist ħammalu, that’s for sure.

    • M says:

      Gross stupidity whether expressed in Maltese or English will unfortunately remain gross stupidity. Would it have been any better if the driver mentioned here had told the would be passenger that she was full of sh**?

      In Malta we unfortunately seem to have more than our fair share of the absolute bottom of the barrel. The finger should be pointed at those giving these jobs and we should be told what is on these employees’ CVs. The damning thing is that I am one of those paying their wages as they are hurling Malta down the drain.

  6. carlos says:

    Mit-tajjeb ghall-ahjar. skont is-sur Mizzi. Kemm konna ahjar meta konna aghar.

  7. Randon says:

    But if the lady looked around the bus she may have noticed minister Joe Mizzi incognito in a corner and should have called him to assist her with this brutish driver.

  8. Kif inhi din? says:

    It is regrettable that no one with a mobile phone was able to capture and record this appalling incident?

  9. Queen's English says:

    I hadn’t imagined that Malta would descend into Mintoffian savagery so quickly: http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-08-31/news/hunters-illegally-take-over-gozos-wild-west-6400442373/

  10. El Cardinero says:

    Sewwa qalilha moghza ghax hawn erbgha minn nies jirkbu l-istess tal-linja kuljum u KULL JUM isaqsu jekk hux sejra il-Belt. Ha toqoghdu taghmlu ghageb ghax qalilha moghza!

    • Last Post says:

      B’izjed nies jahsbuha bhalek zgur li Malta tkompli miexja ‘l quddiem mhux biss fis-sliem imma wkoll fic-civilta’.

      Nies bhalek ma joqghodux ifittxu x-xaghra fl-ghagina u jaghmlu ghageb ghax xi xufier jghajjar lil xi mara anzjana ghax tistaqsi jekk il-karozza hix se titla’ l-Belt.

      Inti w nies li jahsbuha bhalek tassew taghmlu unur lil dan pajjizna u tkomplu tghollu ismu fost il-barranin li jzuruna.

  11. michael campbell says:

    My wife was not allowed to get on a bus with the pushchair on subsequent buses and was left waiting in the sun for 2 hours at which point she decided to go back home.

    Surely, she could have got into her car and driven; surely she could have called me to pick her up and drive her somewhere. Yet we use the bus service to minimise pollution, to avoid congestion, to help the environment.

    Yet does the government give a flying f*ck? If they do not, through the enforcement of the rule of law, why should we?

    Is this place a banana republic?

    Kind of, in a sense. More than that, it is a free-for-all, grab-all-you-can, ignorant, lot with no values, no ethics, no self respect, no social responsibility and no dignity.

    Time to move on.

  12. There was a time after the war when London sought to recruit Maltese drivers.

    I do not think that the campaign was successful and instead they turned to the Caribbean.

    Discussing the low standard of behaviour among many (not all) bus drivers in Malta at the time, I was reminded that bus drivers were the new “barklori” (oarsmen) in Malta’s transport system, and that they had inherited the same behaviour.

    But seriously, is any attempt being made to train drivers to maintain a higher level of discipline and behaviour?

  13. Steve says:

    The previous administration was far from perfect but at least those at the helm tried their best to better the Public Transport service, the problem was that Arriva was in some way forced to employ inept, rude and ignorant Maltese drivers which from day one started to give a very bad impression to both Arriva and the Public Transport reform.

    Today the Public Transport system is burdened by inapt drivers and an inapt management thanks to an inept minister.

  14. Robert Pace Bonello says:

    A better service than Arriva and much cheaper!

  15. Mary Coogan says:

    Well, if these “services” were all private and competitive, then bad operators (which would include impolite ones) would get less passengers and friendlier drivers and routes would get more traffic and revenue. There is no need to regulate public transport (safety aside) as little as there is regulating the number of bakeries and their produce (safety aside).

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