The Government has agreed with Gozo’s 37 bus owners to a compensation deal of €40,000 for each license of public transport, payable in three equal installments: the first one when the license is withdrawn and then with two further payments will follow. This means that the total government cost will be €3.1 million.
The 37 bus owners between them share 73 licenses to offer a service of public transport in Gozo and have accepted the deal as compensation for the public transport reform.
This agreement was concluded after a period of negotiations that lasted several months and which followed mediation by the Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information, Chris Said, after he held several meetings with the Gozo bus owners over the last week.
Discussions with the Gozo Bus Owners’ Association (GBOA), represented by GRTU, were conducted on a separate track from discussions with the ATP since the license for Gozo, unlike those of Malta, allow the same bus to be used to work both scheduled and unscheduled services. Given this, the Gozo Government is withdrawing the license for use on only scheduled service, while owners will keep buses that can be used forwork outside the schedule.
The revenue base of operation of public transport in Gozo would lead to an estimated loss of approximately €23,000 per license. However consideration should also be seen that contrary to the case of Malta, the current public transport operators in Gozo can under European regulations be directed to continue operating the service that they are. This is due to the fact that Gozo is small enough to allow the service from small contractors.
As happened in Malta, Gozo operators must individually declare their consent by entering in a personal agreement with these conditions for their licenses. The Government will invite operators to come to this agreement during the next week.