Sir,
A big thank you to Mollie Neate (Observer, October 3) for bringing to the public's attention the loss of our one bus daily, from Pembroke Dock, via Tenby, Saundersfoot etc and then on to Carmarthen. Now we have been told that this service is about to finish this November.
This service is a lifeline to a lot of older persons, as not everybody owns a car, so to withdraw this particular bus is absolutely scandalous.
I can quite understand the bus company Silcox stopping this service, as no company is going to run a business at a loss.
I blame, quite categorically, the Welsh Assembly Government. They give the over 60-year-old a bus pass with the right hand, and then remove the bus that you need the pass for, with the left hand.
Believe me, like a lot of people, I worked for a living and also paid my taxes. I retired at the age of 63, so I think I've earned my bus pass and also the bus to go with it.
I cannot quite understand Pembrokeshire County Council and Carmarthenshire County Council. Neither of them seems to want to help the public shopper by reaching an agreement between them; it just seems that Carmarthen doesn't seem to need the revenue that shoppers would bring into their town.
The Welsh Assembly Government seems to be treating West Walians as second class citizens, with giving Swansea and Cardiff 14 per cent subsidies, while Pembrokeshire shoppers only get one per cent, and giving Carmarthen even less than that. I think there seems to be something wrong there.
The nearest major department store is situated in Carmarthen, then after that it's Swansea, which is quite a long way away for a lot of people.
Christmas is just around the corner, so we are really going to miss our bus service.
I and my friend Mrs. Betty Button are going to be standing outside Somerfield Store, Tenby, from October 13-17, from 10 am - 1 pm, to see if we can get some signatures; the more names we get, the better.
I intend passing this letter and the signatures we collect on to the Welsh Assembly Government, also to our local AM Angela Burns, and then maybe we will perhaps get some help to get our bus up and running again.
Anne Price (Mrs.),
Tenby.