From Mr A. Brincat

Like many others, I belong to a group of people who believed the slogan ‘B’ tal-linja jaqbillek’ so we started using bus number 42.

But how mistaken we all were! We take the 8.30am bus from near St Helen’s Basilica in Birkirkara, which up to now has never come on time and has never left less that 10 minutes later than scheduled, that is never before 8.40am.

As if this were not enough, the way through the industrial estate and San Gwann is a living hell. Containers parked and/or manoeuvred in the most irresponsible ways one can imagine stops the traffic for minutes on end. Parking in many streets especially towards Imrabat Street is unbelievable; on both sides, in the middle, on pavements; you name it, it’s happening. The situation is chaotic, only the rule of the jungle applies and “might is right”. To add insult to injury it is not the first time that when buses going in opposite directions meet, the drivers take a few minutes off to talk to each other across the street and to hell with their passengers. At this point I wonder where all the wardens and traffic police have gotten to; are these people only interested in giving parking tickets in open areas, where parking, even if not legal, does not cause that much of a problem, havoc or inconvenience?

The situation is unbearable, disastrous and worse. Suffice it to say that this three-

kilometre journey from Birkirkara to Imrabat takes on average 30 long minutes, believe it or not. And does the ADT or anybody else for that matter really believe that this helps commuters? Is it in point of fact worth taking the bus? Does it pay getting to work 15 or 30 minutes late every single day? Or do we have to take another bus half an hour earlier to make sure we get to work on time – perhaps?

Let’s hope that one day, maybe before the turn of the next millennium, somebody somewhere will do something to really make it worth taking the bus.

Alfred Brincat

BIRKIRKARA