Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in a statement to Parliament this evening spoke on the options being considered by the government to improve links between Malta and Gozo. His statement was greeted with a series of questions by the Opposition as to why the government had engaged a Chinese company blacklisted by the World Bank to carry out a feasibility study on a possible bridge.

Dr Muscat said one of the most immediate possibilities was the introduction of a fast ferry service between Valletta and Mgarr. This would be a scheduled service which would be part-funded by the government through a public service obligation agreement.

The government was also working on complaints about the poor bus service from Cirkewwa, with buses leaving before the ferries arrived. Furthermore, one had to wonder why students going to the University were taken to the airport first on the buses.

The government was also considering a scheduled helicopter or fixed wing service between Malta and Gozo. The latter might require an extension of the helipad at Xewkija to serve as a runway. Part of that extension could be turf. Financial and environmental factors were being considered.

No decisions had been taken yet, Dr Muscat said, while expressing his dismay over the poor state which the heliport had been allowed to fall into.

The government, Dr Muscat said, was continuing feasibility studies launched by the former government into the possibility of having a tunnel from Ghadira Bay to Gozo.

Last week an agreement was also signed with China Communications and Construction Company which would carry out a feasibility study on the building of a bridge between Malta and Gozo. There was no obligation for the government to build the bridge, or to engage this company to build the bridge if this decision was taken. EU rules would be followed.

Dr Muscat was asked a series of questions, notably from Opposition leader Simon Busuttil. He asked why the prime minister had not said that the Chinese company was black listed by the World Bank. Had the government known of this situation before engaging this company to conduct the feasibility study? It would be serious if the government carried on with this agreement when it knew that the company had been blacklisted. And it would also be serious if the government had not carried out the necessary research and did not know of this blacklisting.

It also appeared, Dr Busuttil said, that the company vice president who signed the feasibility study agreement might not be the vice-president after all.

He asked whether it was this company which approached the government, or the other way around.

It was also strange that this blacklisted company would conduct the €4million study without charging the government. What was in it for this company? Further this company had a conflict of interest and could dictate how the bridge should be built, leaving the government no option but to engage it to build the bridge itself. This would violate EU rules, and the government should therefore have declared that once it would carry out the feasibility study, this company could not bid to actually build the bridge.

Former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono asked if the government really planned to hold a referendum on the fixed link issued, what would be asked, and whether the referendum would involve everyone or just the Gozitans.

Nationalist MP Ryan Callus noted that the feasibility study would remain the intellectual property of the Chinese company and could not be used without its consent. He asked what the implications of this clause meant for Malta.

Tonio Fenech said the terms of the agreement showed that the Chinese company would conduct the study for itself, not the government. The government could not use the findings without its consent.

He warned that such arrangements could lead to violation of EU Procurement rules. In normal cases, a call for tenders was issued for the conduct of a feasibility study.

DR MUSCAT'S REPLIES

Dr Muscat said the Opposition speakers had made an onslaught on the Chinese company but had not declared their views on connectivity between the two islands.

It seemed that the Opposition wanted the government to apologise for having negotiated well with China. It seemed for the Opposition that the agreement reached with China was too good to be true.

The Chinese company, he said, was the number one contractor in China, owned by the Chinese government. It was proposed by the Chinese government itself in government to government talks - a very different case than, say, contracting BWSC.

Due diligence was made when somebody needed to be paid for a service, but in this case, the government would not be charged.

This company would not prepare designs for a bridge but would prepare a feasibility study which would be given to the government, free of charge. This was what the contract said. Designs included in the study may only be used by mutual agreement. The designs were over and above the actual feasibility study.

The feasibility study did not mean the writing of a tender.

Dr Muscat said it was worth recalling that the former government used a company blacklisted by the World Bank as its consultant, on the power station.

In this case an offer had been made by the Chinese government, with no obligations.

Dr Muscat confirmed that a referendum was planned. It would involve the Maltese and Gozitans and would be held after feasibility studies of both the tunnel and the bridge, if the projects were feasible. The views of the Gozitans would also be considered on their own.

Other matters were also being discussed with the Chinese government.

Dr Muscat denied violation of EU rules. He said an eventual fixed link may not necessarily depend on EU funding and a toll system could possibly be introduced. Or there could be a mix of the two.

He also confirmed that a link between Gozo and Sicily, possibly including Malta, was also being considered.

On the Gozo airstrip, Dr Muscat said the airstrip would be extended for fixed wing aircraft only if there was an economic benefit without environmental harm.

Concluding, Dr Muscat said he hoped the Opposition was open to investment from China because this was what suited Malta, along with investment from other markets.