With regard to the idea of a bridge linking the islands, Din l-Art Helwa’s main concern seems to be the visual impact it would have on the surrounding islands. Actually, if they check around the world they will find that such a bridge can actually add to the beauty of its surroundings. What they should be more concerned about is the fact that if the bridge is built it will destroy forever the uniqueness of Gozo. Yes it will benefit the Gozitan people on a daily basis but the island will no longer be the quiet peaceful place to holiday that it is at present so they will lose out on the tourist trade. Gozo will simply become an outer suburb of Malta. What about all the Maltese who have holiday homes in Gozo? How many of them will still want to weekend there if it’s just part of the main island? They go there now to get away from the faster pace of life on the main island.

The Gozo Business Chamber is of course not in the least bit interested in the ordinary Joe in the street and how these things will affect him. All it is interested in is extra profits from wherever it can get them. Now ordinarily that is not a bad thing but when the cost of those extra profits is the destruction forever of the way of life of a people then I think it is wrong. As for their idea that a permanent link will encourage people who have left Gozo to return, this is just stupid. Gozo is no different in this regard to everywhere else in the world. People I grew up with are now living in New Zealand, Australia, America, France, Norway, Egypt, Spain, and have no intention of ever returning home. As they grew up they just couldn’t wait to go somewhere else, it’s in our nature. I know people from Gozo who hate the place because they grew up there and don’t see it the same way I do as a tourist.

Will the Chinese company find that a bridge is feasible? Of course it will. It is hardly going to spend €4 million of its own money and then say it can’t be done is it? Will a bridge or a tunnel be built? I doubt it as it all comes down to money and the cost would be too high. Will an air link solve the problem? Of course not. It would be of no use to the ordinary Gozitan except on very rare occasions, and has already been shown in numerous studies to be financially unsustainable. All it would achieve is more of Gozo concreted over and would become a playground for owners of light aircraft spoiling forever the quiet peaceful nature of the island.

Studies are cheap or in the case of the bridge study free, and I think we can take it as read that the government is honouring its pre-election promises to look into the ideas. However, I think they need to be looking at the real issues that affect the everyday lives of the people, the roads, the health service, cost of energy, wages, unemployment, the flooding that occurs every time it rains heavily and so on. These are the issues that will have the greatest effect on people’s lives rather than pie in the sky dreams.  

James A. Tyrrell

COUNTY ANTRIM

N. IRELAND