I have it on good authority from what reporters would call “a source close to the government, speaking on condition of anonymity” that the tender for designing, digging, managing and operating the disputatious Gozo tunnel has already been promised to a company based in northern Europe.

This company will finance the entire operation in exchange for a 60-year lease during which it expects to more than recoup its investment from charging a toll for its use. 

This (as far as we know) is before the geological and environmental studies have been completed.

It is also before the six-month period for the submission of tenders (announced in November) has run its course.

As forecast, the tunnel will comprise only a single lane in each direction with an emergency lane between them. There is no contingency for a monorail.

The contractors may not be aware (and the government might neither know or care) that the plan is to emerge on the Gozitan side onto one of the most dangerous stretches of road on the island. This is a road with humps and bumps of shifted tarmac and may include subsidence. It has a perverse camber that surprises drivers unfamiliar with the area.

On the positive side, it will be handy for shopping at Lidl and for those Maltese wishing to join in the Nadur carnival and other feasts – if they can find somewhere to park at the end of the tunnel.

Meanwhile, there is no news on the government’s promise of more, and more frequent, and faster ferries.

One concern, apparently, is that to award a fast ferry contract to a foreign operator would mean the profit not staying in Malta.

I thought the information might be worth sharing...