Chris Said
Labour has done a full circle on the Gozo tunnel issue. They have spent their two and a half years in government going round in a circle, and ending up exactly in the same place where they had found the issue, wasting time and resources in the process. It is worth reminding readers of the chronology of this saga, listing all the facts and developments over the past five years, and also posing some pertinent questions.
In January 2011, writing in The Times, I had publicly fielded the proposal for a permanent link between Malta and Gozo in the form of a tunnel. The Labour opposition of the day was very quick to try to shoot down this proposal as being pie in the sky. At the Labour Party conference in February 2011, then Labour's spokesman, now Minister for Gozo, Anton Refalo, had said that a tunnel could pose problems to Gozitans, expressing worries that "this could ruin the island's benefits, including having to share its hospital with Mellieħa residents". He has only now realised, almost five years later, that he was misquoted back then, or at least that is what he would have us believe.
Cabinet had then discussed this idea, and approved that we should embark on preliminary studies. Through Transport Malta, we had applied for and got EU funds for a pre-feasibility study, which was finalised by mid-2012. This had concluded that the tunnel was both physically and economically viable but had pointed out that detailed geological information was required to analyse the impact on the environment, construction methods and cost. Following the outcome of this study, the Government has decided to go for a full feasibility study including all the required geological and environmental assessments.
The change in Government brought with it a change in direction, and, notwithstanding the existing studies which had all recommended a tunnel, the Labour Government, for no explainable reason other than an offer from the Chinese Government, decided to go for a bridge.
In a full blown media event at Castille, in the presence of the Prime Minister and senior members of his Cabinet, they were quick to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with China Communications Construction Corporation (CCCC) Limited (which is blacklisted by the World Bank till 2017 following fraudulent practices in the Philippines) to conduct a detailed feasibility study on the possibility of a bridge connecting Malta and Gozo.
Two and a half years later, we had still heard nothing more from CCCC, and their studies on the bridge, but now, just a few days ago, out of the blue, we hear that the Government is going to go for a tunnel. One wonders where this change came from. Has the Government received advice from serious experts in the field that the tunnel was always the best option? And when exactly was this advice received? Have they been sitting on a number of such recommendations hoping that the more time passes, the more their propaganda machine will find it easier to help people forget their past declarations? Would some more time help Minister Refalo remember that he had been misquoted in 2011?
When Labour took over Government in 2013, they found that a lot of work had already been done in a structured and proper manner. The studies we had had commissioned, were in their hands, all pointing very clearly towards a tunnel as being the best possible option – efficient, economical, and environmentally-friendly. Notwithstanding this, Joseph Muscat, who upon the slightest criticism of their many doubtful dealings cries wolf, accusing us of being a negative opposition, went his own way. On the basis of whims and some as yet unexplained reason, they shelved everything, and started going round in circles. Now, two and a half years later, they have arrived at where they were, back at the starting point. A waste of two and a half years! Talk about negativity for its own sake …in practice.
Chris Said
Shadow Minister for Gozo