Tunnel project: Gozo Business Chamber tells MPs to get on with it

Gozitan businesses are insisting the two major parties in Parliament have an electoral mandate for the tunnel project after the proposal was included in their respective manifestos.

The Gozo Business Chamber welcomed the motion put forward by the government this week seeking parliamentary support for the road tunnel.

It said the motion recognised that the project was included in the electoral manifestos of both parties and urged both sides to maintain their commitment towards the tunnel.

“This is a project that has been proposed and on which work has been ongoing for several years with the full support of every party that was in government during that period… the Chamber urges the government and the Opposition to sustain their promises and continue with their commitment so that the project is implemented.”

On Tuesday, ministers Ian Borg and Justyne Caruana adopted the unorthodox approach of filing a joint motion in Parliament seeking the support of MPs for the tunnel project.

The decision has been interpreted as a move to commit the Nationalist Party to the project. The case for a Gozo to Malta tunnel was made by PN MP Chris Said between 2008 and 2013 when a pre-feasibility study had identified a subsea tunnel as the best option for a permanent link.

A report drawn up by Japanese experts in the 1970s had studied various options but deemd them to be unfeasible at the time.

Geological studies are currently underway with the government insisting that tenders for the project will be issued later this year. A planning application has not yet been filed but the Environment and Resources Authority has issued the terms of reference for the impact studies.

The Gozo Business Chamber said it agreed with the wording in the motion emphasising that the project should be carried out in the most sustainable manner possible.

Environmental groups have expressed concern over the project, insisting it will ruin Gozo’s social fabric and harm the environment.

A major problem is the waste that will be generated from the digging process and which will have to be dumped somewhere.

The proposed tunnel will have entry points just below Nadur in Gozo and at l-Imbordin between Għajn Tuffieħa and Xemxija, in Malta.