INSIGHT
8 · MONEY
ISSUE 55
Giselle is a freelance writer, proofreader and social media marketer who lives on Instagram and cappuccino. She runs Content for Success.
Light at the end of the tunnel? MONEY’s Giselle Borg Olivier seeks the views of three key players involved in the Malta-Gozo tunnel debate. The Malta-Gozo Tunnel Project has been a bone of contention between those who believe that it will be beneficial for commuters, both Maltese and Gozitans, and will boost the tourist trade to Gozo, and those who are evidently worried about the negative environmental impact that the tunnel will have. I asked three key players participating in this debate – the Malta-Gozo Tunnel Steering Committee, Din l-Art Ħelwa, and the Gozo Business Chamber – about their views on this project and whether concerns are justified. Earlier this year, Franco Mercieca, chairman of the Malta-Gozo Tunnel Steering Committee, said that “the environmental impact assessment is at an advanced stage and we should have the final conceptual design in the coming weeks. This would lead us to a situation that we can test the market for prospective bidders to design, build, maintain and operate such a project”. He further updated his statement, saying: “The conceptual design, which is a design of the Malta Gozo tunnel that is being proposed by the Maltese Government, has been in hand for a few months now. The conceptual
design is important so that a cost-estimate, and therefore the feasibility of the project, is verified. This will be published with the pre-set award criteria in the coming weeks in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire. Once the bidder is selected, the latter must come up with the definitive design which must be within our pre-set parameters.” Dr Mercieca sustains that the tunnel “is the best chance ever that we have to connect the islands. However, if the EIA proves to be exceedingly detrimental then we have to go back to the drawing board and rethink the whole permanent link project”.
Regarding the metro issue, “this has also been discussed on a national basis. In principle, even the cockroaches on the islands would agree wholeheartedly with such a project. However, this is a totally different project which, according to ARUP, is only feasible for the centre of Malta due to the quantum of potential users which are lacking in the periphery of Malta and the whole of Gozo. The population requirement for a metro to be feasible in Gozo is being quoted to be 100-150,000 which is a far cry from current numbers. From our estimates, a meagre 1520,000 people are living permanently in Gozo.
Regarding the views from the Gozo Tourism Association about having a permanent link between Malta and Gozo, Dr Mercieca noted that, “the GTA has expressed concern that tourism to Gozo may suffer with the fixed link and that they would prefer a metro rather than an open road”.
“The possibility of including a metro with the current road tunnel has been considered but abandoned due to lack of feasibility. Our consultants tell us that geologically we cannot have a tunnel wider than 14 metres which would not be sufficiently wide to have both a road and a metro. And this apart from the regulatory differences in inclination between a metro and a road tunnel that, according to our experts, are incompatible.”
“Firstly, I don’t know of any place in the world where improving accessibility has led to a decrease in visitors. I agree that the type of tourist will change but most definitely such a project will lead to an increase in the quality and quantity of tourists visiting our island. Just consider the number of hotels, not in Mellieħa, but in Ċirkewwa/Marfa region which have a bed capacity larger than the total number in Gozo and do not experience the seasonality we do in Gozo. The difference being the 5km stretch of sea with the consequential unpredictability of the crossing.”
Dr Mercieca clearly believes in the success and advantages that a tunnel adjoining the two islands will achieve. “The advantages of having such a project are plenty which one can classify into local and national issues. Gozo and Gozitans want this tunnel as the well-being drain which is highlighted in the social impact assessment published in 2017 is leading to an economic drain which pushes the young generation to leave Gozo for good. This results in the consequential brain and
