Question 1: What makes Gozo, Gozo, that is, different to Malta?

The fact that it is a sweet island, separated from Malta and that, as such, it is worth visiting. Join it to Malta and it will very quickly become like the present claustrophobic, overbuilt, often very dirty Malta.

Question 2: How much will the discussed tunnel cost?

According to one estimate making the rounds the figure is €300 million. Of course, as almost always happens, by the time we get through the present studies and discussions stage that figure will surely be much higher.

Question 3: What is the essence of the present problem?

Gozitans, and others, rightly complain they cannot get to and from Malta quickly and comfortably enough because the Gozo Channel line services are, at best, far too long in terms of timings and other elements.

Question 4: How many ships has Gozo Channel got running presently?

Three, I am told.

Question 5: How much would more ships cost?

I am told there would be some very ferocious competition among potential European shipbuilding yards for, say, a €90-€100 million tender offer for three new ships in addition to what Gozo Channel has. And these could operate continuously, round-the-clock, in a timing manner only restricted by the size of the present Mġarr harbour.

Addendum: the Mġarr to Valletta, and vice-versa, public transport service would have to be similarly increased in terms of buses and other transport, 24 hours a day.

Conclusions: the total costs to the nation would be cheaper, even if substantially subsidised by public coffers. Gozo would remain the beauty that it presently is. The land and sea environments would be respected.

I sincerely hope that all sober-minded Gozitans and Maltese see this simple logic.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.