Residents demand speed camera at Gozo black spot

Għajnsielem residents are urging the authorities to install a speed camera on Mġarr Road where cars zoom past daily in a rush to catch the ferry to Malta - and where a German woman was killed last week.

An application for the camera was filed by the Gozo Joint Committee, on the request of the Għajnsielem local council, about a year ago but no decision has been taken yet by the Malta Transport Authority (ADT), mayor Francis Cauchi explained.

"Mġarr Road is the area where most fatal accidents happen in Gozo... Some form of accident happens there nearly every day. The speed camera is very, very necessary. Without it accidents and deaths will keep recurring," Mr Cauchi said.

Meanwhile, questions sent to the ADT - requesting if and when the camera would be installed - remained unanswered.

Mr Cauchi said the road was dangerous since cars sped through it on their way to the Mġarr ferry terminal. The fact it was a straight road meant drivers were tempted to step on it.

He added that although there were two pelican crossings and two zebra crossings along the road, accidents kept happening.

Last week the road claimed the life of a 54-year-old German woman, Silvia Kluge, who died after being hit by a car. According to sources, she was on a zebra crossing. She was in Gozo visiting her son.

In August Renzo Grima, a 30-year-old Armed Forces soldier, died on the same road when his motorcycle collided with an oncoming car, while last year 42-year-old Joe Grima was killed there in a hit-and-run incident, which is now being treated as a premeditated murder. Some people who live along Mġarr Road pointed to the immediate need for traffic calming measures such as a speed camera.

"Each time I have to leave the house and cross the road, to go to Mass or shopping, I am scared... There is a zebra crossing close to my house but drivers rarely stop for me to cross. Sometimes you have to wait for ages for a car to stop," said a 51-year-old woman who has lived there for 24 years.

Her neighbour, Josephine Agius, agreed that crossing the road could be a nightmare.

"In the morning I can hear cars speed down the road to the ferry. The noise is so loud that it feels as though they are in my bedroom," she said.

Tessie Attard said she had to be careful whenever she stepped out of her home to buy from the delivery van since cars whizzed past. "Something really needs to be done," she insisted.