It hasn’t taken long to revert to type
Published:
June 24, 2014 at 11:34am
This picture was taken by a reader at the bus terminus in Valletta. It shows bus drivers and dispatchers squatting and eating beneath a beach parasol stuck into a weighted bucket.
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Nix Mangiari nibqghu. Bramel u mopp imiss.
Used the 73 lately, if it was without a ticketing machine I got to ride for free.
They’ll say the service cannot sustain itself.
The battle is not over transport policy, but the Zeitgeist.
Arriva was pitched as the alien Wunderwaffen: excellent, but out of the ordinary, because we are Maltese hiiii and qamel is Kif Thabbat il-Qalb Maltija.
So we greeted Arriva, which was, after all, a normal, ordinary bus service, the sort you would expect in any European-standard country, with fireworks.
After all, the country’s household hamallufest show is called – you guessed it – Xarabank.
It’s not the politicians’ fault. It’s the poets’. Always has been.
None of the buses, coaches and minibuses hired by the government have ticketing machines. You get to ride free in all of them.
Mhux ghalhekk ma jgergrux ghax l-aqwa li b’xejn?
I have just heard from reliable sources that a Maltese company asked for an annual subsidy of 55 million euros and a hefty rise in fares to take over the running of the bus service.
The previous government was paying a yearly 10 million euros in subsidy. Comparisons are, well, work it out for yourselves.
And they have the audacity to criticize Austin Gatt.
Viva s-Switchers u n-Nazzjonalisti mwegghin. They completely ruined Malta. They paid back that wicked man Gonzi who got Euro 1.1 Billion deal for the country in spite of the PL continually putting spokes in the wheels and back stabbing by the trio pf traitors Debono/Mugliett/JPO abetted by that other viper John Dalli.
Those who expected anything less must be feeling really, really clever. But then wait, let them be told how they should feel first, by those who, pre-election, had a roadmap for everything. It is never a good idea to worry their lazy heads to form an opinion is it?
Now, when is the next free concert, presidential palace activity etc.?
Bus drivers never had a proper canteen whether with the old bus service or with Arriva. This is an amenity they deserve.
That said, the attitude of some of the bus drivers leaves a lot to be desired.
On the other hand a lot of them are helpful and courteous. The former should be weeded out.
Only a couple of years ago, a room built by the British at the Ghalqa ta’ Kola in Rabat was removed to make way for “paving, landscaping, benches and decorative lights.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110401/local/room-in-rabat-to-be-replaced-by-landscaping.357756
This morning, the space previously occupied by the room was occupied by a weaver with his weaving machine and his stall of products for sale.
A friend of friends? What permit does he have for this purpose?
This morning on entering Valletta I distinctly heard two bus drivers swearing and shouting at each other in foul and blasphemous language.
I had not heard bus drivers insulting each other like that for months. Indeed, I never heard bus drivers engaging in foul language at the top of their lungs whilst standing idle at the terminus and I used to use (and still do) public transport almost every working day.
Two weeks ago, yet another bus driver had a friend standing next to him and the two were discussing work conditions in such foul language that I was appalled. I hasten to say that I am not easily shocked or scandalised but the language was so foul and loudly uttered that one had to be unconscious not to hear it or notice it.
I use buses every day and nearly every day I encounter mishaps. Two weeks ago I witnessed a very ‘interesting’ scene on the bus, with the driver yelling and swearing at a particular passenger.
This incident was the worst I’ve ever witnessed of its kind, and to make it worse it was route bus no.13 to Sliema filled to capacity, some of them even tourists.
Thanks to Mr. Mizzi, public transport has gone back to the rotten state it was in for so many years before the reform, and people are complaining.
So this photo is no surprise to me because as I said, I’ve witnessed things far worse than this.
Regrettably perhaps but I want to say this – that I’m no longer proud to be Maltese. Lawrence Gonzi was right all along.
I am sorry I am posting again but the picture in this post showing drivers at the Valletta terminus, triggered me to write on yet another aspect under this government: the degeneration of Valletta.
The term “regeneration of Valletta” has been given meaning by the Nationalist administration time and time again, and mostly by the last PN administration. Indeed, this last administration has given Valletta star treatment and nowadays it has definitely become the diamond in the crown that is Malta.
However, in the past months or so, I have seen and I am noticing a degeneration which is tragic to behold.
Let us start with the famous Monti. It has crept up dangerously close to the Ministry of Health and Energy in Old Bakery Street. This means that there are people eating and enjoying the sun, pedestrianisation and the “European” (I would say) atmosphere of Merchant Street, whilst literally running the risk of being seriously injured by the Monti hawkers because between the various “restaurant-table islands” as of late there hsa been the horrendous and hideous installation of the squalid stalls making up the Monti. Basically, it is Paris and Tripoli combined. I have personally seen tourists risking decapitation by the Monti hawkers dismantling the stalls.
Before, Merchant Street was a clear sign of the regeneration of Valletta. It was brimming with people enjoying the atmosphere of this beautiful street and the restoration of some of the buildings added considerably to the charm and noble beauty of the street. Now, we can witness daily the rape of this street by the bird-brained Monti hawkers who think nothing of littering the street, of shouting their heads off in the vain attempt to sell their wares and of dismantling the stalls with no attention whatsoever to the passers-by or patrons of the various restaurants lining Merchant Street.
But this is not all. I come into Valletta every day at about 8:15 a.m. Up till July 2013, I used to see a mechanised street sweeper washing and sweeping the streets daily. Last Summer I started noticing that such street cleaning was no longer taking place. Indeed, I have not seen the machine since July 2013. I kidded myself into thinking that perhaps such cleaning is going on earlier or later. However, this is not the case because the cleanliness which was so evident a year ago is now almost absent and every morning I notice that the streets have not been cleaned from the dirt of the day before.
Yet another aspect of the degeneration of Valletta is that cars are entering even the pedestrianised zones. I have seen vehicles entering South Street, St. John Street and various other no-traffic zones at all odd hours of the day, irrespective of whether traffic is allowed or otherwise at the particular time. I also noticed that Ministerial cars are parking everywhere and anywhere without any regard whatsoever to whether parking and entry are allowed.
Needless to say, that paragon of class and vision, the Right Honourable Joe Mizzi is on record saying that there is not enough money to landscape the Valletta ditch. This was one of the first things he said when he took office back in March 2013. The whole landscaping was going to cost roundabout 2 million euro. However, his government did find 4.2. million euro to pay to Cafe’ Premier “owners”. In other words, it is not that they did not have the money (indeed, it had also been budgeted for), but rather, they do not want to spend the money on such insignificant matters such landscaping the entrance to our capital city and a UNESCO world heritage site.
Indeed, these are just salient examples which belie a more serious problem: the sheer lack of vision which epitomises any Labour Government really.
I’ve always said that when everything is said and done, what distinguishes the PN from the PL is that the former has class whilst the latter has none. The PN has vision whilst the PL has vote-vision. Indeed, one of Gonzi’s legacies is the regeneration of Valletta. Let us see how long will it take for this government to demolish all the work done by the Gonzi administration.
Issa tibda l-uniformi tas-sajf: flokk ta’ taht, xorts u flip-flops.
Xi dekorazjoni artistika mill-kultura tal-“pole dancing”, ziemel fis-serkin diehel l-ewwel fit-triq ta l-Imriehel, u ritratt tal-istatwa tal-parrocca jibdew jidru ukoll.
Just the appropriate local touch to complete the Piano plan for the entrance to the city built by gentlemen for gentlemen.
Not to mention the fast-dropping standard of the drivers themselves; buses stopping 2 metres out of the pavement even when ample space is available, a limp hand hanging out of the driver’s window and a general drop in road manners. The ‘mhux xorta’ attitude quickly becoming the standard for most things in this country.
It’s disgusting how they have turned the terminus back to what it was before. All those quaint orange kiosks now have various stands, stacks of drinks, ice cream machines and umbrellas surrounding them. It’s a disgrace. It’s back to the ‘suq’ atmosphere.
Good, let’s have it from Kenneth, Michela, Albert and Jane Marshal then.
Stuck as they are with this rabble.
Triton’s has been abandoned and the PN blamed, the ditch remains a building site and the blame the PN.
They’ll take over every space, square, demand the proliferation of latrines and foot rests in the name of plebain entertainment and solace.
The elite meantime, gets to pose at Girgenti and some exclusive baroque or jazz festival to distance themselves.
Behold Muscat’s middle class, split down the middle, a territorial, mental detente holding a fragile balance. Each drawing boundaries and transferring common space to class distinction both ways.
Then they’ll talk sustainable development.
The bus service has taken a turn for the worse these last few weeks.
A number of chartered buses are in fact the old coaches in which the heat is unbearable; they’re regularly used on lines 12 (Sliema/Bugibba) and 13 (Sliema/St Julian’s) and the X buses mostly used by tourists from the Airport.
Buses are not as regular as they used to be; my bus is every half an hour but lately I’ve had to wait 45 minutes or so several times.
Bus drivers’ behaviour is getting worse; gone are the polite salutations Arriva had instilled in them. And many bus drivers are taking it out on immigrants; if an immigrant is on his (90% are men) own on a bus stop, many drivers won’t stop.
The last buses have a tendency to leave early from Valletta so, if you’re not on the bus stop at least 10 minutes before they’re due, you’ll end up calling a friend or a taxi.
Very little maintenance is being done on the buses; I’ve seen several stopping mid-trip, clocks on buses don’t work, the bells don’t ring and air-conditioning mostly doesn’t work, the exception being the new buses the government had to buy instead of the bendy-buses and that’s only because they’re new. Arriva used to have staff checking everything on the bus from clocks/temperature monitors to bells; now it’s nothing.
Bus drivers who don’t have the exact change to give you won’t bother to issue a ticket and you ride for free.
Summer is officially in and today, 24th June, if you visit the Malta Public Transport website (exactly what Arriva left for them, they just changed the name), you won’t find the summer schedules.
With more tourists on the island, and with less frequent services during the weekend, you’ll not be able to catch a bus going to any tourist area, especially Bugibba and Sliema, on Saturdays and Sundays, from anywhere but the terminus.
With the removal of wardens in the offing, parking is becoming generally worse and that hits public transport very hard; long waits in narrow roads for private car drivers to remove their badly parked cars għax daħlu minuta jixtru take-away.
This decline in the bus service comes after Minister Joe Mizzi removed several last services from Valletta at 11pm and also removed the night buses which were a boon for teenagers on Fridays and Saturdays.
Passengers are grumbling but certainly not in the organised way they were against Arriva. The anti-Arriva campaign was organised by the Labour Party with prominent Labourites boarding the buses and starting loud grumbling. Now, if they board the buses at all, they stay silent; if anyone grumbles they say that Joe Mizzi daqt jirranġahom… to general disbelief.
There’s a general expectation among passengers that bus tickets will be dearer and, as happens with this government, people are resigned. If there were the Nationalists in office, the GWU would already be staging public protests because ‘the poor’ can’t afford to pay any more for bus tickets.
Arriva had certainly started badly with the organised sabotage by the old bus drivers, but the service now is objectively worse and becoming worse by the week.
You won’t ever see this reported in the Times because they’ll get a very angry phone call from Keith Kasco at Castile who has them by their financial balls…
Perfect. Let it rot.
Apparently there are 4,000 applications for bus drivers.
Even better, let them panic. Perhaps he could employ these as paid passengers.
Apparentement ghal kull ghadma hawn elf Laburist. Dak li baqa ghalihom ghax ta fuq hatfu kull bicca lahma li kien hemm.
Compare and contrast.
Former No 10 spin doctor Andy Coulson has been found guilty of plotting to hack phones while he was editor of the News of the World.
David Cameron gave a “full and frank apology” for employing Andy Coulson at 10 Downing Street, saying: “It was the wrong decision and I am very clear about that.” http://live-updates.news.uk.msn.com/Event/Phone_hacking_trial_Andy_Coulson_guilty_of_hacking
Cyrus Engerer found guilty of keeping or circulated pornography and of having maliciously used a computer to copy data, and of ridiculing a male person. He was given a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years. Engerer threatened Camilleri he had better call off the case because things could come out which would embarrass Camilleri himself. The threat was turned into reality when the defence exhibited a pen drive which contained material allegedly lifted by Engerer. The court said this showed to what lengths Engerer had gone to slur the victim.
PM Muscat praised Cyrus and he was “a new soldier of steel and the Labour family would always be with him showing its solidarity as one movement.”
The government has issued a call for expression of interest for the development of White Rocks. Most of the development will be residential. This is a radical difference from what was proposed for the area in the past.
Some questions are in order.
What type of residential? If blocks of apartments (similar to Portomaso or Pender Place) are included, what is the permissible height?
How much of the area is being allowed for development? An area of 135,600 square metres has been cited. Is this the building footprint (i.e buildings spread over a larger area) or does it include open spaces? Has a percentage building footprint been specified i.e. how much of the area must remain open with roads and landscaping? Has a maximum number of residential units been set?
Assuming that a large number of residential units will be allowed, how will this affect the existing property market? Has government considered the risk that it will dampen property prices elsewhere especially if there is a downturn in the market i.e. reduced demand?
What about the many thousands of vacant dwellings? Is vacancy going to be increased because of the massive number of residential units which will be developed at White Rocks?
Will developers be allowed to sell vacant plots? What safeguards will there be against sprawl i.e. having developed plots interspersed with vacant plots? There is a risk that the site will be a building site for many decades. How will the quality of environment of the first residents be safeguarded?
Given that most of the area will be developed for residential, what is the difference between White Rocks development as intended by government and an extension to the development boundary?
The call would probably include answers to some of these questions. It is something that should be looked into and discussed.
I wonder what Astrid thinks about this.
My experience of the bus service to and from Mater Dei/Zurrieq: Super One radio played loudly during both trips on different buses!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27998411
This is how things are done in a democracy.
The Prime Minister not only failed to apologise for engaging Engerer but glorified him and promoted him as his personal adviser on EU affairs! Go figure!
Back to mediocracy
When will decent restrooms be provided for these workers, especially when the weather starts acting up?
My very recent experience: I needed to go from Valletta to Zejtun on the road opposite Lidl. I asked the driver of a bus that was parked at the Zejtun bay at the Valletta terminus and he told me to catch bus 84. When I boarded bus 84 and asked the driver to confirm I got the right bus, he said I should take bus 81. So far so good. While waiting for the bus, the printed schedule on the pole stated that the next bus was due at 16.22 hours while the LED running text at the top of the SAME pole stated that the same bus was due at 16.52 hours. What an organised mess!