From Mr A. Brincat

It seems that someone with perhaps an extra grain of salt in his head came up with the bright idea of having two entrances to the ticket booths at Cirkewwa, one for groups and the other for private passengers.

However, there seems to have been someone else with perhaps more grains of salt this time, who decided that the latter entrance should be barred with a row of chairs, thus preventing access.

On Saturday, 23 September, I was on my way to Gozo and as usual I wanted to obey the rules; so on approaching the booths, I followed the arrow pointing to the door for single passengers. There were some youngsters sitting on a row of chairs immediately behind this door. I pushed the door ajar and politely asked them to move so that I could go in. They replied that they were asked by the Gozo Channel Company hostess to sit there so that no one would go in – they soon got a new job! I explained the purpose of the door and, being sensible people, they realised I was right and moved away. I walked in but immediately the hostess left the group she was attending to and darted towards those who tried to come in behind me and showed them the way back out. They sheepishly turned round and marched out of the room.

When I approached the ticket booth, the man at the desk, with some air, told me that I was not supposed to use that door. I asked why and was told that there were the chairs. I said that chairs and notices do not mix and that that door was meant for passenger like myself who were not in groups. He insisted I was wrong and I gave him a piece of my mind and he then said that it was the manager – I assume of Gozo Channel Company – who told him by phone to take such action. I honestly do not believe that this is a very managerial way of doing things, but not in Malta perhaps. I told him that I would call the manger myself about this and so he then asked what I wanted and gave me the ticket.

The next step was to go through the turnstile. The same person with the extra grain of salt seems to have thought of having a turnstile installed to the right of the ticket booth, that is on the side of the single passengers entrance. This gives the impression that it is meant for use by such passengers. However, it is, as usual, out of action. A piece of tape across the slot where the ticket should be inserted prevents it from being used and so those single passengers have to go back to the never ending queue. One has to bear in mind that these groups take so long to get together: they wait for each other, they don’t know what to do next and many times single passengers miss the ferry due to all this hassle. It is a fact that sometimes a whole group will not be taken on the ferry but a handful of individuals will, and if the ferry is too full to take another 50 or 60 passengers, the odd few can easily be accommodated – hence the reason for the single passenger’s door and turnstile.

Lets hope that good sense will prevail for the benefit of us tax-payers who pay millions to have a decent terminal for our use and comfort as well – and not only for tourists, who are certainly most welcome, but not at our expense however.

Another point is security on the ferry itself. It is very rare – if at all – to see any staff checking passengers with their feet on seats, thus dirtying them for those who come after, or checking smokers on board. I have witnessed arguments between passengers during trips but no one was there to support those in the right.

A. Brincat

BIRKIRKARA