Holiday in the balance

My wife and I both have UK vaccination certificates dated September 13, 2021 and we had boosters on September 30, 2021, allowing us to visit Malta for four weeks in October and November.

We are booked to stay in a hotel for a further four weeks next month but our boosters are now apparently invalid. They are, however, valid anywhere in the EU except Malta.

We are not eligible for a second booster in the UK. Do we now have to cancel our holiday?

Is this true?

Malcolm Barton – Bath, UK

Care rather than possession

In a piece of chocolate I was enjoying, I came across this fabulous quote by the great Latin poet of the late Roman Republic, Gaius Valerius Catullus (c.84- c.54BCE).

He wrote: “The things that we love can never be completely possessed. They are simply looked after. Can we stop possessing things and people and start looking after them, instead?”

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap – Marsa

Street protests risks

Letting loose thousands of angry Joseph Muscat supporters on the streets can have very serious consequences, not least on the Labour Party itself.

Let’s hope and pray that cooler heads prevail.

Carmel Sciberras – Naxxar

Get fifth ferry

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

On the evening of Sunday January 16, it took close relatives two-and-half hours to drive from Żebbuġ, Gozo, to the Gozo ferry terminal. It would have taken them half that time on foot. It was another 35 minutes to board the ferry and almost five hours from the time they joined the queue next to the heliport to arrive home in the south of Malta. They could have flown to Moscow or Dubai in that time frame.

This may have been an unusual situation, yet, it is utterly unacceptable and extremely frustrating to the thousands who use the service. Unless they have inevitable ties with Gozo, some visitors would say ‘never again’. There is no point to go to Gozo to escape the hustle and bustle of Malta, the gridlocks, fumes and protracted delays to get caught in a two-and-a-half-hour car tailback on an island which is just nine miles long.

It is superfluous to state why people visit Gozo in summer. In winter, and in what the industry refers to as the ‘shoulder’ or ‘lean’ months, people opt to visit on long weekends or anticipated fair-weather spells.

This is where Gozo Channel have to excel. They do not have to run after the business in the summer months. It drives itself. A thriving Gozo economy throughout the year is very dependent on the efficiency of Gozo Channel.

Understandably, on weekends, people travel to Gozo in staggered droves but appear to return together on a Sunday night on the same boat.

Ships need routine maintenance and, like all things mechanical, may become unserviceable unpredictably. But, then, that is what good management and forward planning is all about. The potential is there.

Some Maltese are moving to Gozo permanently and many others are buying holiday homes like never before. The statistics bear this out.

The government must suspend the studies on the tunnel, which most people are against because of the perceived massive environmental impact on both islands, and focus on getting the fifth ship forthwith. This is possible by leasing one until a new one is delivered.

Gozo Channel has to respond to the needs of the market. It cannot be otherwise.

Victor Pisani – Santa Luċija