[WATCH] Borg insists Gozitans ‘are happy’ with Malta ferry with multiple stops

Borg insists Gozitans ‘are happy’ with Malta ferry with multiple stops

Transport minister Ian Borg has insisted a new ferry service with multiple stops will be more useful to Gozitan commuters, than a fast-ferry service connecting Mġarr port to Valletta.

Borg said Gozitans needed access to villages other than Valletta, and that a crossing into various Maltese towns and villages will allow them efficient access, instead of travelling again from Valletta into other parts of Malta.

Borg said the ferry service, which replaces initial plans for a fast-ferry service to Valletta, will be operated by the private sector.

Borg said the new ferry service would be beneficial to Gozitan students to reach educational schools conveniently as the new ferry service will stop at Ta’ Xbiex, close to Junior College and University.

The newly proposed ferry service was subject to criticism by the Gozo University Group, who claimed that tourism concerns were trumping Gozitan interests. “The promised fast ferry between Mġarr and Valletta would have eased Gozitan lives with a shorter commute between Gozo and Malta for students, workers and others... Although being a short-term solution, the fast ferry would certainly have gone a long way in easing these non-trivial commutes,” the GUG said.

Questions were raised over the similarity of government’s new proposal and a recently launched hop-on hop-off service offered by the Fortina Group between different locations, including Sliema, Buġibba, Comino and Gozo.

The minister insisted that the ferry service will reduce traffic generated by commuters seeking additional transport from Valletta to other localities.