I refer to Noel Grima’s article entitled “The new buses are here, but where are the bus stops?” (TMIS, 8 May).

It is clear enough that Noel forgot the proverb “Look before you leap” because he just put pen to paper before verifying the facts. I am referring to the paragraph where he questioned the whereabouts of the new bus stops, because, according to him, these are nowhere in sight. I invite him to take the Nos. 17 or 19 buses to Marsascala and stop at the front, just opposite Summer Nights. There he will see one of these new bus stops (real, not illusions) and written on these bus stops are not only the information about the buses’ numbers that pass/stop at that particular bus stop but also their destination. There is also a space prepared where the timings of all the buses using that particular bus stop will be inserted. For example, from this bus stop, the No 4 bus would go to Rabat, No.23 to Mater Dei, and five different routes to Valletta with one being a night service.

In another paragraph, he took a future Arriva driver to task for just doing what ALL drivers should be doing – that of abiding by the regulations. He criticized a particular driver for asking some passengers for their Kartanzjan card, which entitles them to a discounted ticket. He also accused this driver of causing unnecessary delays and undue hassle to these passengers until they found their Kartanzan in their bags. Noel was also scandalized because those who did not have the Kartanzjan had to pay the full fare. Sorry Noel, those are the precise regulations that people with a Kartanzjan should show to the driver when buying the ticket, thus saving much wasted time for driver and passengers alike. Very recently on a particular journey, a passenger with a Kartanzjan ticket was seated next to me. When the Ticket Inspector boarded the bus at Zabbar to check the tickets, this passenger did not have the Kartanzjan card – not because he left it at home but because he was still 58 years old! But the driver, for believing what the passenger told him, was justly rewarded − booked and fined accordingly.

I am still perplexed by this article because from a bright scholar such as Noel (a reporter, editor, journalist, ex-priest), one would expect much better reporting by at least verifying the facts before going to print.

Alfred Cappello

MARSASCALA