The Times of Malta was not delivered to Gozo last Thursday. As commuters in Malta had to plan their day around the CHOGM traffic, Gozitans had to face the problems normally encountered with bad weather. Gozo commuters have already been badly hit by the increasing traffic problems in Malta.
Most had to take an earlier ferry to Malta in the past months. Both the 5am and 6am ferries are packed and, often, an extra trip is made at 6am.
Last week was an even more difficult one, as Franco Mercieca noted. Thursday and Friday were disastrous. Ferries operated late and mainly through the longer route around Comino. At one point, Gozo Channel pulled out their staff from Ċirkewwa as if from a sinking ship and let the commuters fight their way onto the last 7pm ferry, leaving quite a few stranded. Mercieca wrote that, in one day, he lost five hours of his working life, which he should have used to help his loyal patients. The press hardly mentioned all this.
Few wrote that the CHOGM meeting in Gozo had to be cancelled or that products, including the Times of Malta, were not delivered. The problems did however provoke a discussion about of the permanent link between the two islands.
A referendum would only delay the issue. We need the tunnel now and we need the government to think about improving the situation in the four years it would take to build. Gozo is literally dying.
The population figures being given are fake. They include thousands of Maltese who have a second home here and have that address appear on their ID cards. Also, hundreds of Gozitans, mainly young people, have moved to Malta but still retain their Gozitan IDs.
The real Gozitan population is decreasing rapidly. The tourism and leisure industries depend on some well-organised events and the few long weekends but this is not enough. Hopefully, the Bart University will be a boost. Our own university should better exploit its campus as this could be an important niche.
In the meantime, we should protect what makes Gozo special. Its villages should be properly protected. We are ruining the island not through a fixed link but by allowing third and fourth floors to be built all over the place even if there are hundreds of unfinished projects.
We are ruining Gozo’s image through badly-planned paving projects or the modernisation taking place outside the Cittadella. Gozo is not a museum and needs to experience progress but it is not just another city of Malta. We must protect its esprit di lieu.
The tunnel will bring more day visitors and avoid the need for more development outside the already built areas.