I READ with dismay the proposal of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive to waste £350,000 of public monies on providing "names" for bus stops throughout the region and to, quite unbelievably, take five years to do it! (Bolton Evening News, January 28)

The amount of money involved may not seem a lot to these moguls -- protectors of the public purse, so-called -- but to the majority of us lesser mortals it seems like an awful lot of cash for a scheme that quite honestly could be carried out at a fraction of the cost, and before the end of next month, by the children of every primary school in the county.

It would not be beyond their capabilities, with their undoubted computing skills, to print off the name plates (nearest side road, park, pub or local landmark) for the three bus stops nearest to their school, laminate them to produce a waterproof finish, and then attach to the appropriate pillar.

Job done -- no cost, and in less than three weeks.

I challenge the primary schools to engage in a competition to get their "signs" up first, and I challenge the GMPTE to explain how their scheme is to cost so much by comparison and also why the money would not be better spent on improving the quality, integrity and time keeping of the service for their long suffering passengers.

Is it any wonder ordinary, peace loving, stable, normally unflappable citizens are becoming increasingly disillusioned, infuriated and irate with the schemes which those we elect in good faith to govern our affairs are repeatedly proposing? Instead they fail to deliver what we expect of them and, not insignificantly, manage to charge us more for the privilege.

Anthony J Boddy

Hulton Lane

Bolton