The national melodrama of Gozitan mass migration to Malta and to foreign countries has increased drastically in the past decades. The two major political parties have failed to address in a serious manner the connection between the two major islands of the Maltese archipelago. As a consequence this has led to mass migrations of the best brains of our beloved island, I dare even say of a whole new generation which do not find the right opportunities to reach their aspiration bringing about the exodus. The word exodus means departure which in Biblical terms was used to narrate the escape of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses.

The construction of an undersea tunnel as proposed in Chris Said’s article (January 31) is surely one of the best options to solve once and for all the problems of us daily commuters, the industry, tourism and the whole economic life of the island. One may argue that this is an extravagant proposal which is very difficult to materialise. However, as one of the founders of western thought, Socrates, states “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” Having a vision for your own country is indeed no sin. An undersea tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under a body of water. There are many reasons for building an undersea tunnel as opposed to the construction of a bridge. Dr Said in his article listed some fundamental advantages of having such a tunnel.

One advantage would be that a tunnel would still let shipping to pass. A bridge would need to be an opening or swing bridge to allow shipping to pass, which can cause traffic congestion. On the other hand, a higher bridge that does allow shipping may be unsightly and opposed by the public, including additional visual impact on the landscape. Bridges can also be closed due to harsh weather such as high winds. Another possible advantage is space: the downward ramp leading to a tunnel leaves a smaller footprint compared to the upward ramps required by most bridges.

As with bridges, although with a higher degree of chance, ferry links are disrupted during adverse weather. Strong winds or the tidal limits may also affect the workings of a ferry crossing. Travelling through a tunnel is much quicker than travelling using a ferry link as the Gozo Channel service. A clear example is shown by the times of travel through the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France, 75 to 90 minutes for the ferry and 21 minutes on the Eurostar train.

Obviously all these factors must be taken into consideration to understand the need to have this type of connection between Malta and Gozo. Although the feasibility for the construction of such a link can be an issue, this should not be an obstacle since the government has already spent hundreds of millions of euros to construct roads around the islands, including a quite luxurious Parliament building.

I cannot but call on the government of the day to give this proposal due consideration to reduce the double insularity of Gozo, making the quality and standard of living of us Gozitans much better and stopping the mass exodus of our best people. I also appeal to the Gozitan civil society including all organisations that have at heart the well-being of our island to make their voice heard. If we remain silent the next generations of Gozitans will curse us. This is also my dream as much as it is Dr Said’s, “as a young boy for whom a trip to Malta was a rarity, as a student whose daily trip to and from University was an added hurdle which had to be surmounted and as a daily commuter as a Gozitan worker whose office is across the water from my family”.

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