According to a press release dated April 11 posted on the Transport Malta website, the temporary arrangements (at the Ċirkewwa terminal) include better facilities providing foot passenger shelter (450 metres squared), a Gozo Channel info point, a bar, public conveniences, police station and the bus terminus, all of which are located in the zone between the marshalling area and the Comino berth and shall remain in place until the new ferry terminal is completed.
Judging by what could be observed a few days ago, the “better facilities” are hard to find. The so-called passenger shelter is a veritable greenhouse, lacking air-conditioning or adequate ventilation… this with outside temperatures of 30°C plus and, obviously, much hotter than that inside the so-called shelter itself.
It is incomprehensible how no one responsible for the running of the terminal seems to have noticed such an intolerable inconvenience to passengers.
The toilets are in terrible condition, dirty and without functioning locks on the door.
There is no attendant ensuring that toilets are used by ladies and gents as indicated on the doors. One certainly hopes that these conditions are improved immediately rather than kept “in place until the new ferry terminal is completed”.
Another odd rule is in force at the other end of the journey. Passengers waiting in their car for the ferry at Mġarr – sometimes for at least 45 minutes – are no longer allowed to go through the terminal building to make use of the amenities on the ground floor. Instead, they have to walk back through the gates, past the ticket booths where they had just paid their fares (often wending their way against the oncoming line of cars trickling down to the quay), and then enter the terminal through the main door at ground floor… and similarly on their way back to their car.
On enquiring why it was no longer possible to go directly down to the cafeteria/restaurant, I was told access was stopped some time ago because some people were finding a way of boarding the ferry via the terminal building without paying their fare.
It is hard to make sense of this because all passengers making their way to the ferry through the terminal building have to present their tickets before boarding. Surely, the way to address this is to keep the convenience of passengers with cars, customers of Gozo Channel, uppermost in mind. The old access should be allowed again and car passengers informed that they must present their boarding tickets when returning to their cars through the terminal.