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Gozo Chamber welcomes Gozo tunnel proposal
The Gozo Business Chamber has welcomed the proposal for an underwater tunnel to link Malta and Gozo.
3 February 2011, 12:00am
Rachel Zammit Cutajar
Rachel Zammit Cutajar
1 min read
The Chamber believes that the “brain drain” suffered by Gozo as well as the declining population will be aided by the link between the two islands. Ease of travel will also affect students and workers commuting to Malta every day. It will also make life easier for people travelling to Malta for continuous hospital treatment, they said.
A permanent link between the two islands will “solve most of the problems of double insularity” resulting in an increase in foreign and domestic investment.
A proposal for an underwater tunnel between the two islands was put forward by Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said, which he estimates would cost around €150 million.
Said said that the tunnel would be co-financed by private investors and support from the EU and that costs could be recouped in 15 years.
According to the proposal the tunnel is to be dug 50 metres below the seabed and will therefore not have any negative visual impact nor would it disturb the seabed.
A number of experts have poured cold water over the project saying that a tunnel would be unfeasible from a technical and financial standpoint, saying that the true costs of the tunnel would go well over the estimated €150 million.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the government is ready to examine the proposal to assess viability of the project to eventually improve accessibility.
Rachel Zammit Cutajar graduated in economics from the University of Malta...
Priscilla Darmenia •
Many years ago a bridge was proposed.
Nothing was done.
Now a tunnel is proposed.
Many years from now, nothing will be done.
Then, also many years from now someone would propose land reclamation from the sea to join the islands.
Perhaps this is feasible judging from the millions of cubic metres of building material at Maghtab. Instead of a mountain we would have a “triq fil-bahar”.
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Are they going to finance it from their own pockets?
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Its a good booster for Dr. Said to look good in the Gozitans eyes.
One thing that I would gamble my life away on is the fact that the Euro 150M cost will be 10 times that in the end like all other projects that this government has proposed and executed. And once its started there is no going back.
If the Gozitans want it so much then they can find Gozitan investors who would make a penny out of it. There again by the paltry amount of VAT and taxes they pay means business is so bad over there that it would not be worth it... Funny how the ferries are always full....
Or then maybe they can fund it from the huge amount of social services they receive. It is rumored (and this was told to me by a Gozitn himself) that practically every family in Gozo receives a cheque of some sort from social services.....ssssshhhhhhh
