Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar understands Gozitans’ need for better accessibility, however building a bridge will not solve all Gozo’s problems; FAA has always maintained Gozo needs an effective drive to create high-end employment coupled with the upgrading of ferry transport, roads and public transport.
Service companies would benefit from the highly-qualified young Gozitan workforce while the provision of online university courses would reduce students’ need to commute to Malta. Gozitans should be given priority boarding on the ferries. FAA regrets that the 2015 Budget did not provide for a rapid ferry service from Mgarr to Valletta and the south. Instead of providing this much-needed facility for Gozitan commuters, this Government which is supposed to uphold the common good, is focussing on an air link which would only cater to wealthy tourists and not to the Gozitan public.
The inconvenient crossing does not justify the building of a bridge that would cost over one billion Euros. A further one million will be required for annual maintenance, money which could be spent in maintaining our roads. A bridge would undermine Gozo Channel’s commercially feasibility, imposing an extra burden on the taxpayer as ferries will have to be retained since bridges all over Europe close in high winds.
Any fixed link to Gozo will greatly increase traffic congestion and air pollution there, undermining health and quality of life. Added to the wave of construction in Gozo, this would finally ruin the very character and beauty that attract quality tourists, expatriate residents and Maltese seeking to ‘get away from it all’. Turning Gozo into a mass-market, day-tripper destination would simply encourage tourists to choose other more unspoilt Mediterranean destinations.
Additionally the Gozitan public will eventually be affected by diminished investment in hospital, university and sports facilities, as Gozitans will be expected to use Maltese facilities once a bridge is built.
Finally, the bridge would have a permanent visual impact on our only archipelago landscape, which is also a protected Natura 2000 site. Such a project cannot be decided by a referendum amongst Gozitans but according to EU directives, must be subjected to a Strategic Environment Assessment followed by nation-wide public consultation.
FAA questions the legality of having the bridge feasibility report carried out by the same company that would build it. On no account should the option of compensating the Chinese developers in land be considered.
This is yet another project that shows that this Government is ready to sacrifice landscapes, health and long-term economic interests in order to benefit the construction industry. Instead of undermining Gozo’s tourism industry, the funds that would be spent on a bridge or tunnel should be invested in job creation and better transport, health and education options for Gozitans.
