Gozo Channel Line - A service to Gozo and all its customers. This motto features prominently in all the Gozo Channel adverts on newspapers and television. Leaving aside for the moment the question whether it makes sense to advertise the services offered by the company (bearing in mind that the company enjoys a monopoly in the carriage of passengers between the two islands), the new board of directors seems to have completely forgotten the fact that at the end of the day the company is the island's umbilical cord.

Definitely, the new timetable which came into effect last month has completely ignored this fundamental aspect. Negative ripple effects are bound to follow. During the winter months the number of tourist arrivals in Gozo dwindles to a bare minimum and the hotel occupancy rates are at their lowest ebb. A tour around Marsalforn and Xlendi in mid-November will provide ample proof of this. I do not presume that having to wait about two hours and 45 minutes for an evening ferry will provide an incentive to Maltese patrons and foreigners who would like to spend a couple of hours on Gozo.

Gozitan restaurant owners are more than aware that in winter they can sometimes make ends meet thanks to Maltese visitors. The approach adopted by the company will only make things worse for businesses. To add insult to injury, we then have had the Gozo Channel chairman proudly announcing on television recently that his company has introduced special fares for those Maltese who would like to cross the channel to have dinner in Gozo. There is no doubt that the new ferry schedule will be counter-productive and this incentive will not have the desired effect.

Apart from all this one must also not ignore the inconvenience which will be caused to a number of Gozitan commuters who have to cross the channel every day, especially those who have to work late hours. After a hard day's work, Gozitan workers would not be so eager to spend two hours and 45 minutes looking at the Comino tower while waiting for one of the new ferries to turn up.

Being a regular commuter myself I am fully conscious of the hassle involved, especially when you do not make it on time to Cirkewwa or when some bus driver is so nice and kind as to add to the long long journey from Valletta by taking it easy as soon as he approaches the reverse osmosis plant in Cirkewwa.

It would be nonsense on my part to expect the company to provide a ferry service at 45-minute intervals or to operate a shuttle service at those times of day. But at least the present timetable should be revised so as to try to minimise these unnecessary inconveniences as much as possible in the light of the company's dire financial situation.

I sincerely hope the Gozitan directors on the company's board did not give the green light to this winter timetable. Moreover, I also expect the five representatives of the 13th district to make their voice heard in parliament as regards the issue. There is more at stake than simply two or three ferry trips.