From Mr K. Galea

KSU strongly condemns the application of the 5c increase on all bus routes for students, after it was announced that the latter would be exempt from these increases. In fact, to quote from the budget speech, it was stated that: “Sadanattant, bhala parti mill-process ta’ ftehim mal-Assocjazzjoni tat-Trasport Pubbliku, il-gvern qed jawtorizza zieda fin-noll tà 5c fuq kull rata fit-tariffa b’effett mill-1 ta’ Jannar li gej. Din iz-zieda, izda, mhux se taffetwa l-hlas fil-biljett tat-trasport pubbliku li qed ihallsu l-anzjani u l-istudenti.”

While KSU has brought this matter to the attention of the relevant authorities as well as to the Minister of Transport, its claims have so far fallen on deaf ears. Since the budget measure was introduced on 1 January, KSU has been inundated by complaints from students who are paying the higher fares, especially after KSU had praised the discount following the budget.

KSU therefore calls on the government to immediately implement its own budget measures without delay and remove the 5c increase on all bus routes for students.

Apart from that, KSU, in line with its policies to reduce the number of cars on campus, would like to see the implementation of long term tickets for all the frequent public transport users. We believe that the present rates of a weekly bus ticket are ill-conceived as they are still more expensive than the single tickets for even the most prolific commuters and urge for the system to be regularised.

Karl Galea

PRO

KSU