Gozo parish priests write to PM

Gozitan parish priests have written to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to express their concern over the fare increases on the Gozo Channel ferries and asked him to intervene so that a solution can be found to the problem.

Fares are to increase across the board on June 1, while there will be further staggered increases in vehicle fares up till 2006. To complement these rises, the government has announced a series of money-saving frequent-traveller schemes.

In the letter, the parish priests said: "We feel that transport between the two islands has always been, and still is, a decisive factor in the economy and progress of the Gozitans. In fact, on February 5, 1997, our college had written to the Prime Minister at that time lamenting that those price rises would have a negative effect on, among others, Gozitans who needed to cross over to Malta regularly for work or study".

The priests said that apart from that, the large numbers of Maltese visiting Gozo had had a visible advantage on commerce in Gozo "and it appears that this will be negatively affected by the new price rises".

The decision to write to the Prime Minister was taken during a meeting of the College of Parish Priests presided over by the Bishop of Gozo, Mgr Nikol Cauchi.