Chinese company to carry out feasibility study on Gozo bridge

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with China Communications Construction Company Limited - a company specialising in the design and construction of bridges - to conduct a detailed feasibility study on the possibility of a bridge connecting Malta and Gozo.

According to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, it was the Chinese company itself which approached the government with a proposal to carry out the study.

"The feasibility study will cost €4 million but it will be paid for by the company itself," Muscat told journalists.

He said the government was not obliged to choose this company if government decided to construct a bridge.

The government, he added, has already instructed the company that the small island of Comino - a Natura 2000 site - should be excluded from the project and the bridge should bypass Comino.

Yesterday, Gozo Minister Anton Refalo announced a referendum would be held for the residents to choose between a tunnel or a bridge.

Quizzed by the press, the Prime Minister said the government will keep note of the environmental impacts and costs before presenting the citizens with a choice.

He also confirmed that a feasibility study on the construction of a tunnel will still go ahead. This study is part-financed by the European Union.