© MTA - MARIO GALEA

Appreciation shown to assaulted coach driver

On the 23rd July, Dr Mario de Marco, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism together with Mr Josef Formosa Gauci, CEO, MTA, met with Mr Mario Muscat, the coach driver who was involved in an unfortunate incident during the transport strike.

Mr Mario Muscat was driving one of the coaches taking students from the STS language school to Zebbug to start their day. Some of the drivers who were on strike prevented Mr Muscat from entering the school grounds to safely drop off the students and they even assaulted him.

Dr Mario de Marco thanked Mr Muscat for his service and courage in the face of threats and violence and for continuing to offer the service desperately required during the strike. Dr de Marco emphasised the importance of the service provided by the Unscheduled Bus Service during the strike; despite the fact that they had been under threat. As the days of the strike progressed, more and more service providers continued to work, thus offering an essential service, especially to tourists arriving and departing on the strike days.

Mr Muscat said he was shocked about the situation and tried to protect the students by closing the coach doors, to stop it from being boarded. He humbly stated that it was all in a day’s work and that his concern was the students’ safety.

Ms Trixie Van Der Kooi, sales and marketing Manager at the Seabank Hotel, Mellieha, together with the MTA, presented Mr Mario Muscat with a weekend break and treatments at the hotel’s Spa, as a token of appreciation.