Free school transport good idea but not given to all the parents who need it - Delia
“Free School transport is a good idea but not given to all the parents who need it,” Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia said yesterday.
During a telephone interview PN leader said that even though on paper the idea of free school transport for everyone is a good idea, the way it has been implemented so far has created a lot of confusion for the parents and the schools.
Delia said that till today we have parents who in previous years use to use the school transport but today with this new scheme their children is not going to be picked up by the school vans. He added that there are people who requested that for now they pay for the service so that they can be accommodated but their request was refused. Delia said that this shows that the system has been implemented simply to win votes and to the make people’s lives better.
In a press conference last Saturday Minister for Education Evarist Bartolo said that 829 parents are still on the waiting list for school transport. Bartolo said that the government cannot say by when the situation will be solved but is committed to solve it.
Talking about Independence Day, Delia once again said that this is the birth of a state. He said that it is still relevant to celebrate it today because Malta 54-years ago became a state ad joined other nations in the world.
Delia said that we have to celebrate what we have accomplished and achieved and where this country needs to be in the future. When our state was born we could take our own decisions and decided what is right and wrong for our society. We strengthen our democracy, freedom of speech, we liberalised our markets and expanded our economy and financial situation. Delia said that his dream is that Malta will not lose what has already achieved and to move to a society were people’s rights are save guarded. He gave as an example the issue of domestic violence. He said that having the law in place is not enough. We need to educated people on this issues and give them the right tools. He added that this applies as well to the needs of pensioners, single parents and other vulnerable people.
PN leader said that even though the economy is doing well and people are spending more money, there are still a number of individuals and families that are in financial crises. Our society has to make sure that each and every person living here is given the basic needs. A person has the right to have a place where to live, food and medical help.
Delia also spoke about the environment. He said that we need to make sure that there is a master plan for in place, open spaces for our children and clean air. He said that the government till today has no plans on these issues and is not even discussing them.