Updated 4.26pm - Gozo Minister denies allegations
The Nationalist Party has claimed that work is under way to privatise the Gozo Channel ferry service.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday morning, two PN MPs said they possessed information indicating that the plan is to privatise the state-owned company, which operates a ro-ro ferry crossing between Malta and Gozo.
MPs Alex Borg and Ivan Castillo said that the prospect of a privatised Gozo Channel raised multiple questions, from what would happen to the Ċirkewwa and Mġarr ferry terminals to the fate of the many workers employed by the state-owned firm.
PN MPs Alex Borg and Ivan Castillo speaking on Saturday morning. Photo: PNGozo Channel operates the ferry crossing on the strength of a Public Service Obligation granted to it by the government. The PSO expired several years ago but has been continually renewed to allow the company to continue operating the service.
Was the Gozo Channel the victim of budget cuts, the two PN MPs asked, and if so was the company destined to undergo the same restructuring fate as national airline Air Malta?
The two PN MPs asked whether there were plans to modify the two ports, and whether studies had been undertaken which suggested that privatising the service was the best way forward.
Castillo said workers were concerned about their livelihoods, and also had suspicions that not all workers at the company were receiving an equal wage for the same work.
Borg said that it was their duty as Opposition MPs to ask questions about the information they had received, “and it is up to the government to transparently answer our questions.”
In a Facebook post later on Saturday, former PN MP Jason Azzopardi noted that he had flagged the imminent privatisation of Gozo Channel in a post on August 2.
He said the PN was right to demand answers from the government.
Gozo Minister denies allegations
In a statement on Saturday, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri denied allegations of plans to privatise the Gozo Channel ferry service.
"No plans are underway, in reference to what the Speakers of the Opposition alleged today," Camilleri said.
He explained that this administration was committed to continue investing in the ferry service, which had improved its service in recent years.
"This Government has been and will continue to put the connectivity between the islands on the national agenda," he said.
This was evidenced by the request to the European Commission to support the operators of the Fast Ferry to strengthen its service and diversify its functions, he said.
To add to this, he said the Ministry had submitted an application to the Planning Authority to construct a Rural Airfield in Gozo.