Watch: I Come From A Family Of Bus Drivers And Arriva Wounds Remain Unhealed, PL MP Warns
PL MP Omar Farrugia has warned that several people in his district, including his own family, are still suffering as a result of the Arriva public transport reform 11 years later.
Addressing Parliament, Farrugia recounted how his grandfather used to work as a driver on traditional buses, originally in Żabbar but later on also in Żurrieq and Mqabba.
“He had nine children… but he also had three others, his three buses,” Farrugia said wistfully. “Before he retired, he passed the buses on to his children as part of his inheritance. These buses were part of our family. They were old buses but they were rich with history and were always kept clean.”
“All his sons worked in public transport in some way or other but they [the PN government of the time] would tell us that Maltese drivers weren’t good enough and that we needed to modernise,” Farrugia said.
“They managed to find millions of euro to bring in foreign drivers. splashed out millions of euro. Rather than helping Maltese drivers buy new buses and modernise the service, we burned money by giving it to foreigners and left the Maltese empty-handed.”
“Maltese drivers were told that their buses were only good for the scrapyard or to be sold for parts. Parts of our history and culture were scrapped for a reform that was a total failure.”
In 2011, the then-PN government revamped the entire public transport system, ending the system of driver-owned buses and placing the entire system under the responsibility of the British public transport company Arriva.
Arriva’s tenure proved extremely controversial, and the bus company was eventually sold to Autobuses Urbanos de León in 2014, under the new PL government.
A modern Maltese bus (Photo: Malta Public Transport)
Although several years have passed since the Arriva days, Farrugia warned that the wounds the reform left in traditional bus drivers and their families have yet to heal.
“Maltese drivers spent years toiling in the heat, with a lot of personal sacrifice on their end, to maintain these vehicles. They were like their babies.”
“Men aged 50-60 were in tears when you took their keys away from them and they will never forgive you for hurting them like this. After decades of service, these drivers were told to work with Arriva on a minimum wage.”
“Couldn’t we have helped them improve shortcomings and buy new buses? If a small number of drivers had a bad reputation, couldn’t we have told them to find a new job while keeping the other 99%?”
“Couldn’t we have considered a modern cooperative model, with a commercial structure that would have maintained the principle of bus drivers that had served Malta well for so long?”
“It was a profound wound that saw people fall into personal crises, depression and worse. My constituents in the 5th district, including my family, still feel it to this day. To this day, the PN hasn’t even had the decency to apologise for this moral injustice. These are the differences between politicians who lead with arrogance and those with shortcomings who work for the people nevertheless… we cannot take this for granted.”
Cover photo: Left: PL MP Omar Farrugia, Right: The old 2425 Żabbar bus that Omar Farrugia’s family used to own
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