Arriva and Qormi resolve San Bastjan fireworks permit issue

Arriva and the Qormi council jointly announced the “mutually acceptable position” in a statement later on Tuesday.

They said that the agreement would “permit the San Bastjan fireworks show to proceed as planned while minimising disruption to bus passengers travelling on services to, from and through Marsa Park & Ride site.”

Arriva Malta added that it “appreciates the importance of the festa to Maltese residents but at the same time has a duty to ensure that a safe and workable environment for its staff and passengers can be maintained.”

No details of the agreement reached were forthcoming in the joint announcement however.

The announcement came in the wake of threats by the Qormi council to call off San Bastjan fireworks show given Arriva’s refusal to cede a yard for a eight hours for the setting off of fireworks on Sunday and Saturday (16 and 17 July).

The yard, traditionally used for the setting off of San Bastjan fireworks, is currently being used by Arriva as both a park and ride, and also an unofficial parking area for busses not in service.

Since the yard was taken over by Arriva for use as a park and ride area as well as a bus storage area, a new location was provided to the council for the letting off of fireworks, Qormi Mayor Jesmond Aquilina said on Tuesday.  However, he added that this site proved itself unsafe when used on Friday, and so the council requested that Arriva considers temporarily relocating to other sites.

Aquilina said that all the local council is asking for is for two time-windows on Saturday and Sunday of four hours each. He added that Arriva had opposed its proposal, when this was accepted by both Transport Malta and the Police Commissioner.

He said that Arriva was offered two alternative sites from which to operate its park and ride system for the duration of the time window, but it had refused both alternatives.

Aquilina said that following a meeting held with Arriva on Monday, the company had not informed the council of its decision directly. He said that Arriva claimed it communicated its final conclusion to the council’s lawyer, but when contacted, the lawyer said he had received nothing.

Aquilina called on Arriva to reconsider its decision, and said that if the transport operator proves intractable, the council would consider calling off the San Bastjan fireworks display "for safety reasons."

Aquilina emphasised that it is unacceptable that Arriva adopts an arrogant position and is able to effectively block a feast’s fireworks display that has been ongoing for the past 30 years.

“They expect that they can come from abroad and do what they want,” Aquilina said. “This is unacceptable, and will have consequences that will affect other feasts and other localities.”

He said that rumours are doing the rounds that Arriva will also oblige local councils to pay an hourly fee for closures of certain roads for the duration of feasts or

He also questioned which was the higher authority, given how Arriva was able to refuse to budge from the yard despite both Transport Malta and the Police Commissioner having approved the council’s proposals.

Aquilina added that Transport Malta was also willing to provide Arriva with concessions over its contractual obligations stemming from the temporary relocation, and also emphasised how the Local Council would be footing all bills and expensed related to the temporary relocation.

“We are not here to ban fireworks, but to ensure the safety of those letting them off,” Aquilina said, insisting that the current space for the fireworks is not adequate. “

The press conference was attended by scores of feast supporters who, when asked by the media about the worth of the fireworks which would potentially go to waste, answered vociferously that the human lives fireworks production endangers “are priceless.”

Also present for the press conference were Labour MPs Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and Roderick Galdes who showed support and solidarity with the council’s position.

Coleiro Preca emphasised that Arriva was interfering with a programme that has significant cultural value and “is doing a disservice to the passionate works that fireworks makers put into creating their fireworks, which are not made for profit but for the love of the craft and the locality’s feast.”

A spokesperson for the Pinto philharmonic society warned Arriva that “the people will not forget his injustice” which he said was merely the fault of “some Maltese managers who did not want to do a bit of extra work outside office hours.”

“This injustice will reflect badly on Arriva’s future and we will not forgive them for it,” he said.

He added that the society “has a right to set off fireworks from that location by right according to a contract with government, and we shouldn’t have to beg for our own rights.”

A feast helper, Vince Grech, also pointed out that Arriva was using the yard as a parking yard for its buses without legal sanction, as since it was public land, Arriva had no right to deny its use to others.

Right after the press conference, Aquilina departed for the Arriva offices in Qormi to deliver a petition urging the transport operator to reconsider its refusal.

Contacted by MaltaToday, Arriva spokesperson Danny Gilbert said that “discussions are ongoing and the individuals who would be able to answer your specific questions are busy trying to solve this issue at this moment, hence I am unable to speak to them.”

The spokesperson was asked to explain why Arriva had refused to temporarily relocate the yard in question, why the alternative sites were not found acceptable, and whether he could confirm that Arriva is using public land to park its buses, among other questions.

“What I can say is that a number of constructive meetings have been held this afternoon and we are very hopeful of finding a solution that enables the San Bastjan fireworks to continue without compromising our ability to operate the scheduled bus service, or creating an unnecessary safety risk for our staff or customers,” Gilbert would only say.