A fast ferry connection between Sliema, Bugibba, and Gozo will start running in the coming weeks, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday.

Speaking in a discussion session which was the first event of an almost week-long PL Congress, Abela said that the ferry operators had concluded testing of the quay in the past week and added that he was looking forward to seeing this new route begin service soon.

Abela also announced that as a result of a joint initiative between the University of Malta, the Gozo University Group, and the Gozo Regional Development Authority, the University’s Gozitan campus would get a new Study Hub for the first time.

Another initiative that Abela announced during the event was plans to install 150 bicycle racks across Gozo in order to promote alternative modes of transport.  This, he said, was being done in conjunction with the NGO Rota.

Opening the PL’s Congress, party President Alex Sciberras said that the concept of the Congress was introduced in 2009 precisely because the PL believes that good politics is done through the people.

“We always recognised that our success is you: your hopes, your ambitions, and your worries that need to be addressed,” he said.

Sciberras said that it was conversations like that which was opened on Sunday morning that had shaped the Malta that we are living in today.

In his opening address, Abela said that was significant for the first event of the PL’s congress to be held in Gozo, because it showed how Gozo is being seen as a priority.

He said that there are significant challenges all around us: the situation in the Gulf and the resultant instability in the oil market has created a reality where EU states are struggling to provide energy and fuel to their people.

“But here we can keep speaking about how we will fulfil our people’s aspirations,” Abela said.

“We can do this because we have an economy and financial situation which is strong,” he said, as he referred to news that the financial agency DBRS had reconfirmed Malta’s A (High) rating.

The elements which led to this, he said, are the government’s policy to offer complete stability in fuel and energy prices, the government’s politics of reducing taxes but increasing revenue, and the sustainability of the country’s debt.

Several ideas were put forward throughout the discussion.

Lawyer Joseph Grech suggested a statutory committee for agriculture to respond to challenges as they may arise, while former PL MP Franco Mercieca said that there needs to be “another way to get to Gozo.”

Mercieca also advocated for a re-think in Gozo’s governance, saying that it was time for all government ministries to work for Gozo.

Michael Galea from the Gozo Business Chamber said that the Mgarr harbour needs to be expanded, Cirkewwa needs to be improved, and a second road that connects to Mgarr harbour also needs to be built in order to improve connectivity.

Other suggestions included giving priority ferry boarding to Gozitans, the opening of a domestic violence hub in Gozo, and a dedicated court CEO for Gozo together with Judges also being posted to the Gozo Courts.

Abela told the crowd present that his administration had tripled the amount of government investment in Gozo since 2012 and had created 7,000 new jobs on the island while also basically completely eliminating unemployment – only 90 people are registered as unemployed in Gozo, he said.

He also said that the concept of seasonality in tourism in Gozo had been eliminated, so much so that the government inaugurated two new hotels just last Friday.  He said that the project for the Gozo airstrip was at the final administrative and technical stages, as is the work on the masterplan for the Gozo General Hospital.

The PL’s Congress, running under the theme of ‘Malta Aqwa’ – a Better Malta – will run until Friday 17 April, culminating in an event which will feature the Prime Minister giving a speech at Ta’ Qali.