A feasibility study that had to be concluded by a Chinese State company on the possibility of the introduction of a monorail system in Malta is more than a year late, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi admitted yesterday.

However, he said the idea of a multimillion-euro monorail system has not been scrapped. In the meantime, the government announced the commissioning of a new study on a tram system.

“The monorail study is still being conducted by the Chinese company, and we are still awaiting its conclusion,” Minister Mizzi said. When the Times of Malta pointed out that according to the memorandum of understanding he signed, the study was to be ready in July 2015, Minister Mizzi did not comment, reiterating that it is ongoing.

The government’s idea of installing a 76-kilometre long monorail system in Malta as a permanent solution for heavy traffic flows and congestion was revealed by the Times of Malta in December 2014. Though the government signed the MOU with China Overseas Engineering Group Co Ltd (Covec) in July 2013, including the right of exclusivity  on the procurement of the project, the government kept it under wraps.

The study is still being conducted by the Chinese company, and we are awaiting its conclusion

Asked for an explanation on why the MOU had not been published, the government did not reply.

However, the plan was first revealed indirectly through an EU document published in Brussels at the end of 2014.

According to the MOU, the Chinese company committed itself to drafting, by July 2015, a preliminary feasibility study for the engineering, procurement, construction and financing of a monorail system for Malta. The MOU specified that the Maltese government was “willing to build and operate a monorail system”, while the Chinese were willing to construct the system based on their “rich experience in such projects.”

In the five-page MOU, the Chinese make it clear that while financing the pre-feasibility study, they expect exclusivity if the government decides to carry on with the project.

“MTI (Ministry for Transport) hereby expresses the intent to entrust Covec to undertake the project as the sole contractor,” states the unpublished MOU, signed by the government.

According to a separate EU document, Malta was seeking funds from the EU and the European Investment Bank to the tune of €1.6 billion.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com

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