'Hypocrites’ in parliament united in will to destroy Malta and Gozo, AD says

Alternattiva Demokratika has accused the government and Opposition of complicity in the destruction of Malta and Gozo.

At a press conference on Saturday which was addressed by party leader Carmel Cacopardo and MEP candidate Mina Tolu, AD said that parliament’s approval of a motion in favour of the permanent link between the two islands “undermined the integrity of the decision-making process of regulatory authorities”.

“The approval by parliament of a motion earlier this week to support the undersea tunnel between Malta and Gozo is indeed a declaration of complicity to ruin Gozo. It’s a declaration whereby parliament is trying to condition the authorities and institutions which have to weigh and analyse the project when the application is submitted.,” Cacopardo said.

“It is useless for PN and PL to shed crocodile tears about the need for public authorities to do their job with integrity and neutrality and to then condition the way they act in such a critical moment.”

He insisted that a rapid ferry service could easily facilitate mobility between Malta and Gozo, without creating “substantial environmental impacts”.

The party said that the impacts of the tunnel would not only include vast amounts of construction waste and the “scourge of sea reclamation being proposed by government and powerful lobbies”.

The tunnel, it said, would substantially increase vehicle movement between the two islands, something it said went contrary to the national transport plan, “which requires that cars on the roads decrease, not increase”.

It said the financial success of the proposed tunnel was dependent on vehicles crossing between the islands because the income of the tunnel operators from vehicle crossings, adding that this would be an incentive to encourage more traffic.

“We have a Parliament of hypocrites which preaches in favour of environmental protection, including Gozo: but now when push has come to shove their masks have fallen. Shamefully the motion was approved unanimously.”

Moreover, it again asked why the preliminary geological studies have so far been “kept secret”.

“We know that the public consultation on the environmental impact study have not been conducted yet and that environmental studies are still pending,” AD said.

It added that the projected expenditure was still not known since this depends on the outcomes on studies which have not been completed and published yet. “Similar projects abroad, albeit connecting vast masses of land with huge populations, show that even the projected costs can soar given the unpredictability of this kind of work.”

“Contrary to the PLPN, bent on the destruction of Gozo, AD believes in Gozo as an ecological island. The others believe, in cahoots with business lobbies, in destroying Gozo and making it a copy of Malta.”