Gozo tunnel is a mask for true land reclamation reason, PD says

The Gozo tunnel is being used as an excuse for land reclamation, the real reason behind which is the need for a construction waste dumping depot for mega projects, Democratic Party MEP candidate Anthony Buttigieg said.

The Democratic Party said, in a statement Friday, that 2019 seems to herald a big rush for the sub-seabed 13km Malta to Gozo tunnel, with the government surging ahead with the project despite a lack of due process,  serious feasibility studies and the negative impact it will have on Gozo’s environment.

Buttigieg said he feared the reason for this was that a contract for land reclamation will be issued soon, and the government is using the tunnel as a pretext for such reclamation.

“And the real reason for it is not the Gozo tunnel, but because the upcoming mega projects and high end real estate have to have a depot where construction waste could be disposed of if they had to materialise,” Buttigieg said.

He highlighted that, in reality, the tunnel project will produce only a small fraction of the construction waste that will be produced by projects approved or in the pipeline. “[The tunnel] is a red herring masking the true reason for land reclamation.”

Fellow PD European Parliament candidate Martin Cauchi Inglott, said that it was “very clear that the general public is not fully conversant with what the project entails, how much it would cost, and what other projects could be accomplished using the same funds”.

“Although, at first glance, a permanent link may look feasible, the crux of the matter is that the technical implementation process has already been initiated with a false start,” he underscored, as he asked why the government was in such a hurry and why it had no engaged in discussions on the tunnel.