Preliminary work in Ċirkewwa

Preliminary work to shift the passenger handling activity at the Ċirkewwa terminal would start today and should be ready by the end of June, Gozo Channel said yesterday.

The bus terminus will be temporarily relocated to the area of the passenger ticket booth and the passenger exit will be moved next to the embarkation lane. Works are being carried out by Transport Malta

The works will prepare the way for the main overhaul and reconstruction of the terminal, for which the Malta Environment and Planning Authority issued a development permit in December. Last month, Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said in Parliament the entire terminal would cost €18.6 million but its completion date depended on the award of the contract.

The Mġarr terminal, completed in 2007, had cost €11.8 million. The ferry terminal project has been in the pipeline for some 15 years and, last year, the Prime Minister said the project had been redesigned.

Under the current plans, the present three-storey building housing a cafeteria and some offices will be demolished and eventually replaced by a one-storey terminal.