ISLANDWIDE checks will be carried out on all buses that should have been replaced at the turn of the year after 30 of 31 buses used to transport school children in Nicosia failed their MOT, according to Communications and Works Minister Efthymios Flourentzos.
“Nicosia cannot be the only place chosen for the checks and I have ordered the road transport department to check all buses that should have been replaced at the start of the year,” he added. He gave assurances that school children would be transported with safety until the end of the year. “The old buses should have been replaced with new ones to meet the transport requirements of the children until the end of the school year,” he added. Flourentzos said that the state would now have to pay for the 30 buses to be repaired and that all those vehicles which are beyond repair would be decommissioned.
The minister revealed that it was the bus operating companies of each district that were contractually obligated to replace the old buses in the new year. According to Flourentzos due to high borrowing costs and funding difficulties, the audit committee for requirements and changes was asked to extend the deadline on the buses’ usability so the companies could meet their requirements.
“An extension was given under the condition that regardless of the age, any buses which are used must be safe,” Flourentzos said. “The ministry considers safety to be of utmost importance,” he added. “School children will be transported with backup buses or the routes will be adjusted accordingly,” he said.
“There are mistakes in the contract between the state and the bus companies, allowing them to take advantage of certain aspects such as these old buses,” he said. “These will be corrected with the new school year and instructions have been given not to invite tenders from companies, but for the contracting authority to ensure the legality of the procedures and to ensure that the procedures followed are not exploited,” he concluded.
Speaking to the state broadcaster, a spokesman for Nicosia bus company OSEL, said that buses did not operate if they did not have the correct paperwork. “The buses are checked at the start of each year and if they pass their MOT then they can operate for one year,” he said.
Buses which did not pass their MOT this January, had been transporting children in November and December of 2012. “But these buses are old and if they had been checked on a monthly basis it’s possible that they may not have passed every month,” he concluded.