Could a single lane road one way 10 to 12 km long really be covered in 12 minutes? That would mean an average speed of 50 to 60 km/h. It means the same average speed needed to cross from Marsascala to Cirkewwa in 30 minutes.

Even with a two-lane tunnel, one lane in each direction, the cost would rise well above €300 million because the present geological studies are incomplete and outdated. The Marsa Delimara tunnel cost double. And if it is proposed that a three-lane or four-lane is built with a safe lane, how much would it cost?

An expert said that geological studies take years. For example, the Channel Tunnel was built and difficulties were encountered even though the submarine geology had been studied for 50 years. So we have to wait quite a bit before deciding, because to decide, there has to be a real possibility of it happening.
So while waiting to decide, why not talk about improving the transport between Malta and Gozo? Gozo will become an old people's home not because there is no permanent link but because the transport is not efficient. Why not really liberalise transport between Malta and Gozo? Competition has resulted in a revolution in the tourist industry with tourists coming to Malta with low cost airlines and we too benefited with low airfares. Why not in the transport between Malta and Gozo? The sea ferries with catamarans, etc would take us not only to Cirkewwa but also to Xemxija, Pieta', the Three Cities and Grand Harbour. I also envisage connections between terminals in Malta which will help alleviate the traffic problem on Malta's roads. But obviously, the infrastructure supporting it has to be prepared and land transport to ferry people from these points too.

Why not introduce air transport with small fixed winged aircraft? A pilot, a friend of mine, once wrote a letter to a newspaper saying that one only needs to double the existing runway in Xewkija by using the area covered with debris. I have heard that plans for such transport have been shelved.

Why not turn the Hondoq quarry into a family park like the one in Marsascala? We lack these facilities. I was talking to a Maltese family some time ago and the mother said that here in Gozo there is no such family park where you can picnic. Why not attract better-paid jobs to Gozo that do not impact so much on the natural environment like iGaming, call centres, etc.? Is improved internet connection between the islands impossible, if a tunnel is not? And I heard a man grumble that his daughter is paid less in Gozo for the same job than in Malta.

Can I believe Michael Grech when he said he is against a block of apartments and that he is in favour of keeping the villages separate when I never heard him protest vociferously against the plundering of Gozo's natural heritage?

These are my ideas; what I thought about while perusing articles in the newspapers, and discussing with my friends. I hope more Gozitans make their voice heard because it will augur for a better Gozo, which was how Nature intended it.

Joe Portelli

Nadur