Gozo Bridge: Reaching the limits of absurdity

It is now crystal clear that the new government's only way out of its economic quandary is to kick-start the economy by embarking on a major construction project.

After floating ideas about land reclamation and a yacht marina in Gozo,

Joseph Muscat has come up with the most perverse of ideas; a bridge passing through the Gozo channel thus disfiguring one of the most characteristic and pristine landscapes of the three islands of the Maltese archipelago.

Muscat says the bridge will bypass Comino which is a protected Natura 2000 site, but how on earth can he avoid the impact of such a high landscape value which is part of the Maltese collective memory? 

Have the Chinese consultants invented a way to render the bridge invisible?

Apart from environmental considerations this project underlies a complete the lack of transparency with the Chinese design and construction company being chosen in the absence of a public tender while promising to invest €4 million in these studies, naturally without expecting anything in return.

Surely the previous government is partly to blame for setting this ball in motion, by commencing studies on the feasibility of an underground tunnel and hyping this magical solution to Gozo's double insularity problem through the election campaign.

The new government has gone a step forward by seeking a feasibility study conducted by a Chinese design and construction company on the development of a bridge. 

The only difference between a bridge and a tunnel, both of which would have a negative impact on the marine environment, is that a bridge would permanently disfigure the landscape of such a sensitive area. 

Muscat knows that Gozitan public opinion is favourable to this project.

Thus he is also seeking popular legitimacy through the bizarre idea of a referendum.  Yet if Malta really belongs to all, any referendum on this issue must be held on a nation wide basis. 

Moreover a decision of this magnitude must first be taken by the experts following both an economic feasibility and environmental sustainability of a project of such a magnitude. 

Ironically many tend to forget that the only reason Gozo benefits from EU funding is because of its double insularity problem. 

Surely one understands the daily hardships faced by people who have to commute between the two islands. But Gozo's identity as an island within an island state is also what makes it unique as a destination.  We also seem to forget that we live in the age of the World Wide Web, which makes physical distance irrelevant in most jobs.

But ultimately the silver lining of this decision is that it would create a rallying point for opposition to an economic model based on construction and more construction, a Gezi park moment for Malta and Gozo.  Hope that the current crop of environmentalists will wake up from the slumber.  My friend Julian Manduca must be rolling in the grave.  Lets' rock.