Gozo Business Chamber insists tunnel is best permanent link option

The Gozo Business Chamber has insisted that the Malta-Gozo tunnel is the most cost-effective connectivity option to link the two island.

The GBC were reacting to statements by the Malta Chamber of Commerce in its five-year vision, where it urged the government to reconsider its investment in a tunnel between Malta and Gozo.

The Malta Chamber advised the government to instead funnel the funds towards building a multi-modal transport backbone including metro connectivity to Gozo.

The GBC, however, said in a statement on Thrusday that Gozo was falling short of its contribution to the Maltese economy, with the smaller island being home to only 5% of business activity in the archipelago.

It cited connectivity barriers amongst the reasons for Gozo’s low business activity, with the time required to reach centres of major activity being four to five times longer than those in Malta.

“The GBC emphasises that the tunnel between the two islands has the potential to provide the most cost-effective connectivity option,” the Gozo Chamber said.

The tunnel project, the GBC said, should be complimentary, not a competitor, to the multi-modal transport system. "It would be expected to serve as the backbone of a network comprising public and shared vehicle transportation, and water and air connectivity.”

The Gozo Chamber also disagreed with the implementation of rail alternatives, insisting that a tunnel project could be made functional within a reasonable period of time, while a metro link would take much longer to build.

“Often-mooted rail alternatives would take decades to implement at multiples of the cost,” it said.

The GBC emphasised that it looked forward to an overall policy framework, which would lead to the island having a distinctive economic model.

It added that it welcomed the Malta Chamber Vision and endorsed a number of recommendations in the paper.