Gozo-Malta fast ferry service by 2018, to operate from Ta’ Liesse in Valletta

Gozo minister insists tunnel between Malta and Gozo should link up to a new tunnel network in Malta. bypassing major Maltese traffic hotspots

Gozo minister Anton Refalo said that, unlike the previous administration, the Labour government did not consider Gozo a burden or an afterthought
Gozo minister Anton Refalo said that, unlike the previous administration, the Labour government did not consider Gozo a burden or an afterthought

A fast ferry service linking Malta and Gozo is expected to be operational next year, with two morning and two afternoon trips projected, Gozo minister Anton Refalo said on Friday.

The ferry service was aimed at students and day workers and it was planned to operate from near the Ta’ Liesse church in Valletta to Mgarr in Gozo.

Refalo, who was speaking at a public meeting in the ‘Gvern Li Jisma’ series in Xewkija, said that he was also looking forward to a tunnel between the two island but insisted any tunnel should link up to an other, new tunnel network in Malta.

“It is not enough having a tunnel that delivers Gozitans to Cirkewwa or Mellieha because they would still be stalled by the traffic on the roads of Malta,” he insisted.

Refalo said that the government had worked hard to put the island back on the right track after years of neglect and abuse by the previous administration.

He said that Maltese and foreign students attending the Barts School of Medicine which is being built on the premises of the Gozo General Hospital, are bound to leave a multiplier effect on the island of Gozo.

“In fact, it is estimated that the project will inject €9 million each year for 15 years directly into the Gozo economy,” Refalo said.

He confirmed, as he had revealed earlier in the day, that Maltese patients undergoing treatment at the Gozo General Hospital or attending the outpatients department there would benefit from reduced Gozo Channel ferry rates, equal to those paid by Gozitans.

“We managed to turn around Gozo Channel through a serious exercise that resulted in over €1 million profits last year,” he said. “This government does not consider Gozo a burden or an afterthought, but is actually committed to see Gozo flourish and succeed.”

Refalo said that tourism was booming, with 1.1 million tourist nights registered last year alone, not including Maltese visitors.

On development, the minister insisted that Hondoq ir-Rummien was off limits to any kind of developmentm and said that, as long as he remained a minister, he would fight to keep Hondoq ir-Rummien in its current state.