NGOs file judicial protest calling for immediate publication of Gozo tunnel studies

Twelve NGOs have filed a judicial protest against the Transport Minister and Planning Authority calling for all studies connected with the proposed Gozo-Malta tunnel to be published.

The NGOs, which represent a broad spectrum of society, also asked for the carrying out of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), as required by national and European Union laws.

"This game of hide and seek and of withholding of essential information must stop,” the NGOs underlined. 

“The proposed tunnel will have enormous and far reaching consequences on the health, quality of life and environment of all who live in Malta and Gozo,” they said.

They went on to highlight that it wasn’t right that citizens be left in the dark as to the “true implications” of such momentous decisions.

“We call upon the authorities to publish all the studies so that citizens may develop an opinion based on facts. That is a major principle of democracy,” the NGOs added.

The twelve organisations filing the judicial protest are: Din l-Art Ħelwa, Ramblers' Association of Malta, Nature Trust (Malta), BirdLife Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta, Moviment Graffitti, The Archaeological Society Malta, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Kamra tal-Periti, Isles of the Left, Bicycle Advocacy Group and Żminijietna – Voice of the Left.