The proximity of coastal and countryside environments, of man-made heritage treasures and of cultural activities are key elements of Malta’s enviable quality of life, of our national identity, and of our attractiveness as a tourism and business hub.

Malta built its success by being accessible, not by being isolated and peripheral.

Gozo enriches Malta’s territorial diversity through its distinctiveness. But this should not keep Gozo disconnected from the opportunities of the modern economy, depriving its younger highly skilled population from the employment and social opportunities to which it rightfully aspires.

The United Nations Sustainable Development goals beckon us to valorise the uniqueness of Gozo by making it the ideal place in terms of the quality of life for young and not-so-young families. Gozo has to wisely blend its distinctive characteristics with the fulfilment of the requirements of modern lifestyles.

This requires Gozo to be accessible effectively and in a durable manner. Various studies and experiences, internationally but also locally, attest to the importance of a physical link between the islands to in part replace but also to complement other means of access.

This is because Gozo is extremely relevant in the national context, housing seven per cent of the total population and generating around five per cent of its income.

These needs have long been recognised.

Way back in the 1960s, a Society for the Unification of the Maltese Islands was set up and it avidly promoted a causeway between Malta and Gozo. A study undertaken by Mott McDonald between 2010 and 2012, then commissioned by a Nationalist government, already indicated the feasibility of the tunnel project to connect the islands, also thanks to the rapid advancements in tunnelling technologies and the resulting reductions in costs.

Thanks to the current government, we are now the closest ever to implement this project.

The Labour government has since 2013 helped to generate jobs and improve amenities in the region to immediately remedy long-standing problems.

In parallel, it is preparing to achieve the best possible connectivity between the islands as the true means of ensuring that Gozo reaches its potential.

Towards this end the government is diversifying the means of access to Gozo by improving conventional sea transport, introducing a fast ferry as well as implementing a feasible air link, sustained by a backbone of a fixed physical link.

The conceptual design detail is now in hand, and further studies will focus on the best method to implement the project

Studies up to this point clearly show that the undersea tunnel is the best approach to achieve a physical link between the islands. This emerges from the work of SINTEF, the Norwegian independent research organisation whose efforts locally are spearheaded by Professor Eivind Grov, who has been involved in the tunnel project since the days of the Mott McDonald study.

This is also reiterated in a cost benefit analysis study commissioned by the Gozo Business Chamber in conjunction with Transport Malta in 2015, produced by E-Cubed Consultants.

Social impact assessments confirmed that 82 per cent of Gozitans favour the physical link. All opinion polls, published or otherwise, likewise indicate convincing majorities for the project.

The geotechnical and seismic studies unequivocally confirm that the project is geologically feasible. The conceptual design detail is now in hand, and further studies will focus on the best method to implement the project as compared to other alternatives.

 In particular, the cost-benefit analysis is being updated with fresh data to more closely define the effects that the pro-ject would bring on the main economic sectors which exist or which can be created in Gozo, considering the different options, including the tunnel.

While looking forward to these studies, I need to point out that Gozo and Malta cannot afford to continue delaying this project simply to pursue studies with limited value added.

We know for a fact that other means of connection, while important in the short run, cannot provide the guaranteed accessibility over the indefinite future that a physical link would give.

Equally importantly, we cannot introduce additional project elements at prohibitive costs in terms of time and money, and for which the national transport system is not yet ready to cater.

It is indeed far more useful at this stage to effectively prepare for the Gozo we will want to create thanks to the improvement of its accessibility. The uniqueness and distinctiveness of the region will be retained, valorised by the attraction and retention of a younger population in Gozo.

Tourists can increasingly select Gozo as their main destination while easily accessing Malta, rather than the other way round. We will be averting the risk that Gozo becomes increasingly detached from the higher-paying environmentally-clean “new economy” activities.

Likewise, Gozo would be saved from being attractive mainly to the poorer sections of the population as a cheap living zone. In terms of the provision of public services, Gozo will host centres of excellence in health and education.

This will require the implementation of strict development policies, especially through the work of the Gozo Regional Development Authority being set up by Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana, that would prohibit any activity that is not consistent with retaining Gozo as a gem of the Mediterranean.

Without full commitment on this front, Gozo will be threatened, with or without the tunnel project.

Gozo will become economically, socially and demographically self-sustainable. Gozo will truly finally come of age. Our roots will therefore remain truly idyllic, but our future must be innovative... to make this leap, we must be efficiently and effectively connected.

Franco Mercieca is chairman of the  steering committee for the Malta-Gozo tunnel.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece