Autobuses de Leon contract to be published in ‘due time’

The contract signed between the new public transport service provider, Autobuses de Leon, and the government will be published in “due time”, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi informed parliament.

He was replying to a question raised by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, who asked when the contract would be tabled. But Azzopardi received more than just a brief reply – as is usually the case in answer to written PQs – in this case Mizzi indulged in a two-page answer.

The transport minister said that the contract would be tabled “once the public receives the information it needs, without the Opposition’s interference”.

Mizzi accused the PN of wanting to confuse the people and reassured the MP that the Labour government would not take 11 months to publish it, “as the previous government did with the Arriva contract”.

The minister said that the Arriva contract was signed on 20 November 2010 and was tabled in parliament on 3 October, 2011. Parts of it were never published.

He said that an “extensive informative campaign” would be launched in March: “As opposed to the previous administration, we want to do things properly. Instead of allowing the Opposition to cast doubts, let us not forget that we are here today because of Arriva’s dire financial situation.”

The transport minister said Arriva had asked for a further €45 million in subsidies in order to introduce new routes, while Autobuses de Leon will be receiving €29 million to operate the same routes.

He said that while Arriva wanted to liquidate its Maltese company, the government intervened and the Malta Public Transport Services Ltd was set up, saving workers’ jobs while offering commuters a reliable operation.

Mizzi claimed that contrary to statements by the Opposition, there had been an increase in bus patronage. Mizzi also insisted that there was a drastic drop in complaints filed with the company, and denied that the company had stopped some night routes – these had been stopped before under Arriva, he said.

He criticized the Opposition for attacking the Spanish company Autobuses de Leon unjustly, calling it “provincial” and saying that it would employ very few people, with employees being Spanish rather than Maltese.

“Not only is this untrue as Maltese employees were not fired from their positions, but calls for more workers are currently being issued,” Mizzi added.

He said the Opposition had hindered proceedings when the contract between Autobuses de Leon and UBS had not been extended due to a disagreement between the companies.

“The Spanish company made arrangements to ensure that services could resume without causing an inconvenience to passengers. The Opposition, through its media, tried to give the impression that mini-buses were being used rather than coaches, whereas these mini-buses had been in use for a long time.

“The company has confirmed that it is carrying out inspections of the everyday situation and that no problems have yet been reported. In the meantime, more low-floor buses are currently arriving, and these are being added to the existing fleet.”

Mizzi also accused the Opposition of using disabled people as a political football, having ignored the fact that Arriva itself endorsed a policy forbidding scooters on buses. “KNPD and Transport Malta have followed my initiative, organized a series of tests for motorized wheelchairs and mobility scooters. The tests were carried out both on the new buses supplied by Malta Public Transport and buses which have been in service for four years.”

Mizzi added that the results of the test showed that motorized wheelchairs could be used on the buses with ease, whereas mobility scooters could not be used on the vehicles. However, some mobility scooters, including those having three wheels could be used on the buses. KNPD and Transport Malta have therefore said that they will issue stickers to identify mobility scooters that can use buses from those that cannot.