The 2016 Budget projected a very positive outlook for Malta and Gozo. It is brimming with measures addressing the most in need. It’s a Budget that improves pensioners’ lot, encourages families to care for the elderly and keeps narrowing the gap for the disabled.
The Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure has also come up with a remarkable number of new initiatives aimed at tackling the predictable challenge of increased traffic that goes hand in hand with increased economic activity, which has soared over the past two years.
However, what struck me as a Gozitan was line item 7,367, named ‘Malta-Gozo link feasibility study’ to which €1 million was allocated. The saga for us Gozitans to convince the people that matter that the only way we can have the same economic, financial, educational and health service options as their Maltese counterparts is to permanently link the islands seems to be coming to a crucial juncture.
The debate on whether to permanently link the islands has been a bone of contention for decades. The gist has always been the same. As long as Gozo does not have a fixed link, we cannot significantly and positively contribute to the Maltese economy at par with our counterparts.
The previous government had commissioned Jaspers to issue a pre-feasibility study. The rationale of that move escapes me, except that it was a good pre-election gimmick. When it came to feasibility studies the PN government were not in a position to fork out the money but instead intentionally or inadvertently led us Gozitans to believe that a permanent link between Malta and Gozo would fall under the EU’s Ten-T programme and therefore we could qualify from special funds for the feasibility studies. It turned out that both these statements were false.
With the change of government, the issue was tackled exhaustively. Once the possibility of EU assistance was completely ruled out, the government accepted an offer from China Communications Construction Company to carry out a feasibility study on a bridge.
However, a bridge turned out to be prohibitively expensive and possibly an eyesore, apart from the obvious environmental impact in a highly sensitive area.
Let’s not dilly dally any longer and crack on with what needs to be done
At the beginning of this year, in collaboration with the Gozo Business Chamber, economist Gordon Cordina was commissioned to examine the best economic, financial and environmentally friendly option: keeping the status quo, that is reinvesting in new ferries, a bridge or a tunnel.
As most of us had expected, the best option is a subsea tunnel, and the Prime Minister has been very supportive of this Gozitan quest.
I do not see the permanent link being an issue exclusively for the Gozitans or the Maltese. After all, it has many fathers, as both main political parties have expressed themselves in favour of the project.
The next step is commissioning geological studies, which with modern tunnelling is not an absolute prerequisite, though obviously preferable. The necessity of a strategic impact assessment due to the magnitude of the impact this project is also necessary.
What is clear is that such a project can be fully financed by private enterprise, with whom a concession for a fixed period of time can be brokered.
Almost five years have passed since my first article on the issue was published by The Sunday Times of Malta and now the need for this infrastructural investment is felt more than ever.
Statistics keep confirming the skill and brain drain from Gozo, coupled by the ageing population and increased dependency ratio. It is an understatement to say that working in Gozo leads to a lack career progression and lower income. Job mobility in the upper tiers is almost inexistent.
Some Gozitans still settle in Gozo due to the love for their island and their families. However, those securing a good job in Malta have no choice but to settle there, where they end up spending most of their time and money.
In recent decades, Gozo has experienced a series of short-lived concerted efforts by various administrations to kickstart the economy with very limited success.
Without reliable and consistent physical connectivity between the islands, the level of private investment leaves much to be desired. By 2011, Malta had registered €12 billion of foreign direct investment while Gozo attracted a miserable sum of €5 million. This is equivalent to 0.04 per cent of the total, when Gozo has around seven per cent of the total population of the Maltese islands. The main stumbling block remains accessibility, which can only be solved for good with a permanent link.
The biggest private investment Gozo has ever seen is on our doorstep, but my biggest worry is that without a permanent link the health sector investment will struggle to survive, especially when it comes to supplying a new medical school. Therefore, let’s not dilly dally any longer and crack on with what needs to be done to start this project which will get Gozo on the fast lane once and for all.
As I said back in January 2011, if we don’t protect our own little star ourselves, no one will do it for us.
Franco Mercieca is a Labour MP.