I read with much interest your article "Save the dghajsa" (TMID, 18 September). I agree with the correspondent. Yes, it would be a shame if this historic boat is threatened with extinction.

What I found most interesting and amusing was the Boatmen's Cooperative's proposal to operate a ferry service at the cruise liner's terminal at a charge of 25 cents / EUR0.58 per passenger.

Does the cooperative know that last 8 September, these boatmen (who I think form part of the Boatmen's Cooperative) were charging 50 cents per person for a 30-second crossing from Vittoriosa to Senglea for the festa?

We have been using this service for a number of years now. I remember in previous years it was… "Give me something and thank you"; during the last couple of years it was 25 cents per person. This year it was 50 cents per person.

No wonder that during the crossing, when someone remarked what a good idea it would be if for the 8 September festa the pontoon would be extended even further, the oarsman got angry.

Ernest Frendo

Fgura