A myriad of roadworks underway in Victoria are making the area look like a war zone and continue to frustrate every single Gozitan on a daily basis.

The modest Gozitan boat owners fear that their hobby is at risk…- Franco Mercieca

Meanwhile, another ongoing project is that at the Mġarr marina.

Although this directly only affects a small proportion of the Gozitan population, it does weigh heavily, especially if properly managed, on the island’s economic development.

I still cannot fathom the fact that these works kicked off in June last year. One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to concede that the timing could not have been worse.

Just as the marina, like any other marina in the Mediterranean, was starting to come alive with the advent of summer and, thus, the boating season, which is the very reason for the existence of any marina, construction works rendered life for the boating community next to impossible.

And here I say “the boating community”, which includes Gozitans, Maltese visiting regularly our island as tourists and foreign visitors who are definitely not the type of tourists who would order a coke and two straws.

So, come June, just as the marina was getting into the swing of things, all hell was let loose and the project that has been in the pipeline for so long was suddenly given life. Was it impossible to start the works at the end of September or even in mid-October? Did anybody question the wisdom of such decision?

One thing I am sure about is that the boat owners were never consulted, thus leading to broken promises by various ministers.

The works immediately tore up the access roads, the pathways and the parking spaces. Virtually no parking spaces were available and boat owners had to leave their cars a good way off, meaning that all heavy supplies had to be hand carried over quite a distance if they were to get to the boats at all.

The pathways immediately became just parts of the general rubble, criss-crossed by trenches and cabling.

The dust in the air was constant and this was a general threat to the delicate electronic equipment that is present on all modern boats.

In fact, I can safely say that during the past season there was a higher than normal failure rate on electronic equipment that has cost boat owners thousands of euros in replacements.

The modest Gozitan boat owners fear that their hobby is at risk because, in order to berth their boats in the only marina in Gozo, they will now have to pay through their noses and have also lost all possibilities of servicing their boat in Mġarr. Thus, a hobby affordable by many is being converted into a commodity for the few.

However, this is not only in defence of Gozitan boat owners but also a lament about the enormous amount of damage that this has done to the Gozo tourism industry.

Dozens of foreign boats, loaded with well-heeled tourists, arrived on our shores this summer, intending to spend a few restful days visiting our coastline and enjoying their evenings at our bars and restaurants, only to quickly change their minds and swiftly up-anchor and sail on to some other location.

Do the people who opted for a June start to the works honestly think that a boat owner, who probably has a six- to seven-figure euros worth of boat, would be ready to lug cases of water and drinks on his shoulders from the main road to his vessel?

Do they honestly believe that these people would risk the electronic instrumentation to the dust that reigned supreme?

Do they honestly expect that once a shiny new terminal is inaugurated, these boat owners will all come back?

But what is the situation now that the summer has passed and we are in mid-winter?

Unfortunately, the marina is in a very sorry state. Gozitans who still have their boats on the pontoons are not able, on most days, to drive anywhere near their vessels.

On those days that they manage, they have to be away by 6 p.m. or their cars would get locked in, with no way out till next morning.

Boat owners who remain there after 6 p.m. are technically trespassing when they should have every right to access their property, especially on stormy nights with southwesterly winds.

Is this all a ploy to protect the contractor from any charges of malpractice in case of injuries incurred in the area?

There is virtually no lighting in the place to illuminate the deep trenches or so-called footpaths.

These footpaths are just a sea of mud that, combined with lack of lighting, are virtually an accident waiting to happen.

Given the quantity of flammable fuel on board these boats, has anybody even considered how on earth would an ambulance or fire engine get to any accident that might happen? Have the health and safety authorities ever ventured to this place or are they only interested in penalising the small contractor who struggles to make ends meet?

Considering the above, I have to once again come to the conclusion that works are carried out with a view of completion in time for the next electoral campaign and, in the process, there is no regard at all for what might be the human element of the people being affected be it their property, their investment or their personal safety.