Eleven organisations are calling on the government to reconsider its decision to drop its plans of a fast-ferry service between Gozo and Valletta in favour of a hop-on, hop-off ferry service.
"This service will not cater for the needs of Gozitan and Maltese commuters crossing between the two islands every day, and fails to address, in a tangible and sustainable manner, the connectivity challenges faced by Gozitans," the NGOs said in a statement.
Last month, Transport Minister Ian Borg said the electoral pledge to offer a fast-ferry service had been dropped following a change in policy. He told Times of Malta that there had been a rethink and a call for tenders issued recently by the transport authorities excluded a fast-ferry option but simply called for a conventional sea ferry service.
The NGOs believe that in embracing a scheme "that is merely a private sector business venture" the government was "betraying" the 3,300 Gozitans who worked in Malta, and desperately needed an efficient transport solution.
It defied belief that the government remained obsessed with its pledge to deliver a car tunnel, which would take years and millions of euros to complete and which will not significantly shorten journey times, while dismissing other, more efficient, alternative solutions, they added.
In their statement, the NGOs said that sources close to the maritime industry have claimed that the latest tender document was drafted with the sole intention of accommodating the needs of just one operator.
"We have to ask whether there is any connection between the suspension of the fast-ferry tendering process, and the operation of a new scheduled hop-on, hop-off service for tourists in Mġarr harbour.
"One cannot ignore the similarity between the government’s proposed scheme, and the hop-on, hop-off service that has just been launched. It seems to be a very strange coincidence indeed that a new catamaran service operated by Captain Morgan started operating just a day after it was announced that the fast-ferry tendering process was being suspended."
The groups demanded "full transparency" from the government and the publication of the studies that justify its decision to shelve the fast-ferry plan and opt for the hop-on hop-off service.
Minister Ian Borg should stop declaring that his schemes are supported by Gozitans, when all the major Gozitan organisations have criticised the suspension of the fast-ferry service tender, they added.
The organisations are: the Association for Gozitan Employees in Malta, Bicycle Advocacy Group, BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Helwa, Extinction Rebellion Malta, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Isles of the Left, Moviment Graffitti, Nature Trust Malta and the Archaeological Society of Malta.