The government should ultimately decide whether to build a tunnel between Malta and Gozo following a referendum amongst Gozitans, PN MP and Gozo spokesperson Chris Said stated on Wednesday.

Said was fielding questions from journalists following a press conference when he was asked about what the party’s views are on the Malta to Gozo tunnel.

He said that the “PN is in favour of anything which can improve accessibility between Malta and Gozo.”

“We were consistent in our beliefs – all the studies have to be done by good, competent experts, not only should they be published, but they should be condensed and summarised to show the positives and negatives to the public, and after all the necessary consultation is done, a referendum amongst Gozitans on the proposal should be done”, Said explained.

The Malta to Gozo tunnel is one of the largest infrastructural projects currently being proposed.

The PN had voted in favour of a parliamentary resolution about the project, and the €300 million or so project is currently at the request for proposals phase with four major companies having placed a bid.

Said was also asked about a recent declaration by all of Gozo’s mayors against over-development in Gozo.

On this, he said that the PN is expecting the government to state whether it will act on any of the 38 proposals presented by the mayors, noting that some of these proposals can be implemented immediately while others can be done in the space of a few weeks or months.

“The Labour Party is in government now, it’s useless pointing something out from 10 or 15 years ago as an excuse.  It was the PL which changed the rural policy to open the door – not the window, the door – to ODZ development in 2014 and changed the guidelines for building levels in 2015”, Said added.

He said that the PN is ready to seriously consider the proposals put forth by the local councils and is ready to back the government on those which can be implemented immediately.