Gozo Minister Anton Refalo claimed yesterday he was quoted badly four years ago when he was reported as having reservations about a link between the two islands.

In 2011, when the Nationalist government had proposed an underwater tunnel as a permanent link between the two islands, Dr Refalo, then Opposition spokesman for Gozo, had been quoted as raising reservations and serious doubts about the project.

He was quoted as telling the Labour Party conference in February 2011 that a tunnel could pose problems to Gozitans, expressing worries that “this could ruin the island’s benefits, including sharing its hospital with Mellieħa residents”.

“Would the permanent link mean people from Mellieħa, only 10 minutes away, come to Gozo General Hospital for their medical needs? Will we lose this? We have to see whether Gozo will lose its benefits. These are the things we have to consider,” Dr Refalo was reported telling Labour delegates.

I wouldn’t want that Gozo becomes just another village in Malta

The government announced during the Budget speech last week it abandoned plans for a bridge and instead budgeted a further €500,000 to conduct more studies on the tunnel option.

Asked whether he was still worried about the disadvantages the proposed tunnel could pose to Gozitans, Dr Refalo said the Times of Malta had reported his speech incorrectly four years ago. “What appeared in the Times of Malta in 2011 is not correct”, he said. “I was quoted wrongly and out of context,” he insisted.

Asked whether this meant he had no reservations on the project, Dr Refalo said he was always in favour of a permanent link between the two islands.

“What I had said is that, whatever link is there, either a bridge or a tunnel, we have to be sure the services currently given to the Gozo’s population remain the same. “I wouldn’t want that Gozo becomes just another village in Malta.”

Asked whether he still felt the decision on whether to build a tunnel should be made after a referendum, Dr Refalo avoided a direct reply: “I think everyone’s opinion should be taken into consideration but the voice of the Gozitans should be given priority,” he said.

Following Labour’s return to power in 2013, Dr Refalo suggested a referendum in Gozo on whether there should be a bridge or a tunnel. He had said he would prefer a bridge.