Viset seeks government backing for cable car

An impressive Grand Harbour scene greets cruise liner tourists as they get their first glimpse of the Maltese islands.

Most on board would want to pay a visit to Valletta, often being the only place they have heard about in relation to Malta.

But viewing Valletta from the ship and actually getting there present two very different prospects. With the lack of transport options facing cruise visitors, there seems to be a missing link between the harbour and the city built right next to it.

The chief executive officer of cruise terminal operator Viset, Christopher Falzon, explained that about two years ago, the consortium submitted a proposal to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for the development of a Lm3.5 million cable car. This would create a 2.5 kilometre link between Grand Harbour and the park and ride route between Floriana and Valletta.

The proposal comprises three stations: at the La Galdiana fortifications on the crowned horn works on the outskirts of Floriana; in Valletta within the car park between the Malta Stock Exchange and Castille Square, and midway at the sea passenger terminal.

The ropeway, supported by five pylons, would have 34 gondolas, each seating six passengers. It would be capable of transporting more than 1,000 passengers per hour in each direction over a 6.25 minute ride from the park and ride to Valletta with one gondola arriving at Valletta every 20 seconds, 18 hours a day, every day of the year.

A presentation on the cable car proposal was given to a Cabinet committee some weeks ago and Mr Falzon feels this was very fruitful as it made clearer Viset's intentions.

But, despite a positive environment impact statement, Viset still did not know whether the government backed the proposal, he said.

He argued that a cable car would create a rapid, convenient, pollution-free, transport link operating in concert with the park and ride scheme and other proposed projects, including the Barrakka lift. Long term, it also had the potential to link Valletta and its waterfront to other locations on the island.

In November 2001, Viset signed a 65-year lease with the government and inherited the cruise liner business in return for a Lm12 million investment in upgrading the infrastructure and restoration of buildings in the area as well as the commercialisation of the area.

But business, Mr Falzon said, was not automatic or guaranteed. "For the project to meet the country's expectations it is very important we have a good Malta product."

There were now some 150 competing ports in the Mediterranean. One of the main attractions Viset offered cruise liners - the tax advantage Malta used to enjoy - had been lost on EU membership. This led to a drop of 30 per cent in cruise liner business.

"We have worked very hard over the past months and we hope that in 2005 we will recover most of this lost business. Malta clearly does not have the saleability of famous city ports around the Mediterranean, such as Civitavecchia, Venice, Genoa, Barcelona and Livorno, and this is why every single thing we do must be done well.

"To attract ships here there has to be a good product and it has to be branded properly."

Since Grand Harbour was the heart and soul of the island and was what distinguished Malta from other countries, the island's branding should revolve around the harbour, Mr Falzon argued.

He pointed out that a good number of cruise passengers were not young and, on landing, taxi drivers sometimes crowded around them. If they decided to proceed to Valletta on foot - and ignore the insults they received - they would most likely be given the wrong directions! So during one of Viset's brainstorming sessions three years ago, someone came up with the cable car idea, Mr Falzon said.

It was immediately liked and it was further suggested it should also be linked to the park and ride route, to be run using electric vans, so as to provide a form of transport with an almost neutral effect on the environment.

"During one of these sessions someone even suggested the digging of a 10-metre wide channel in the Valletta/Floriana moat that was excavated by the Knights. This would link Grand Harbour with Marsamxetto harbour, creating a Venice in the sun. It would also link 26 kilometres of fortifications along two fantastic harbours."

Mr Falzon stressed that there was nothing wrong with encouraging innovative ideas. "After all this is what will make us more competitive."

A Lm12,000 environment impact statement on the cable car project was prepared at the request of Mepa. It shows, Mr Falzon said, that the proposal is congruent with Mepa policy and will bring a number of substantial fiscal and social benefits including facilitating the provision of cross harbour ferry services and the creation of a facility that could become a tourist attraction.

It would provide a unique perspective of the fortifications and encourage the establishment and use of a heritage trail through Floriana.

It would reduce the number and effects of tourist buses transporting passengers to City Gate and would promote the economic viability of the park and ride scheme by increasing patronage during those periods when it is not used by commuters.

According to the EIS preliminary findings, the physical impact on the cultural heritage would be contained and limited.

The EIS concluded that the impact of the insertion of an alien feature such as a cable car could be seen by the public to be detrimental to the cultural landscape because, like many other Maltese landscapes, it was perceived as frozen in time.

"But even the Knights themselves were prepared to respond to new necessities. The Pinto Stores themselves are proof of this. They were a very 'modern' and flamboyant insertion into an austere landscape two centuries after the city of Valletta was planned and built," Mr Falzon said.

According to the EIS, the proposal was broadly congruent with policy, provided a novel way to view and be part of the cultural heritage, would involve more people in its appreciation and insert structural elements to help reinforce the stratification of the current landscape and be part of its ongoing evolution.

On balance, therefore, the impact of the insertion of the cable car into the cultural landscape was deemed to be neutral.

And although some views would be detrimentally impacted, the cable car would afford a new, unique and exciting manner in which to view the landscape and the high visual amenity that make up the Grand Harbour experience.