I can see a very long queue of foreign operators waiting to express their interest to invest in Malta’s public transport after Arriva.

Just kidding, of course.

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/blogsdetails/blogs/The-taghna-lkoll-buses-20140106

James Debono writes in Maltatoday: “For although the service was seriously deficient on various grounds, it was not as bad as many made it to be. It seems that for a variety of partisan, commercial and cultural factors, some were determined to see the system fail.”

Well said, Mr. Debono. It is now the taxpayer who will foot the bill.

James Debono also notes that “the government will have to fund the new company at a rate, which is well above what was allocated for public transport in the budget.”

A much cheaper option would have been to resolve the deficiencies through negotiations with Arriva, even if it would have involved an increased, albeit minor, cost.

Here’s France 24’s press review on 2nd January. The article on “the great European fire sale” is discussed from 03:40.

I have yet to see one journalist awed by “jealousy” at our Labour government’s magnificent plan. Facial expressions range from anger, to incredulity, to derision, to a Gallic raised eyebrow, to downright mockery.

None of which are understood by our political leaders, of course, who are completely devoid of emotional intelligence.

Lino Spiteri votes Labour. Enough said.

We are no longer masters of our own country and have now opened our borders to blackmail and manipulation from forces we can only begin to understand.

It will only be a matter of time before our civil liberties and freedom of speech will be curtailed to suit the demands of our ‘patrons’.

And all this from the Party that opposed joining the EU on the national ‘freedom’ bandwagon. What unbelievable, brass-necked, po-faced hypocrites and liars. SHAME ON YOU.

Now I get it. They suddenly realised that it will cost them a bomb to keep the bendy buses off the road.

They are now paving the way for their return.

Hypocrites.

http://www.di-ve.com/news/updated-government-spokesman-denies-citizenship-quota-claim-euobserver

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140106/opinion/The-post-Arriva-challenges.501551

He writes “A new operator will surely demand a higher, possibly open-ended running subsidy by government. Which is where the 2014 Budget will be shifted off course. That said, the government had no alternative to try out.”

Wrong. The best alternative for government would have been to negotiate improvements with Arriva, even if it meant slightly higher subsidies (or slightly higher fares). The subsidies that government would have paid Arriva are far less than “the open-ended running subsidy” to which Lino Spiteri refers.

The PL is now realizing pushing out Arriva was a massive mistake. It is too late to fix it.

Shiv Nair must be happy.