Chris Said, the Shadow Minister for Gozo, has accused the Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri for “insulting people’s intelligence and blaming the weather for the chaotic situation at Mgarr Harbour on Friday.”
In a statement The Shadow Minister insisted that “the Minister for Gozo should answer for his own incompetence, which led to what happened yesterday.”
The Nationalist Party expressed its thanks to Gozo Channel employees, members of the Police Force and Transport Malta officials for the service they provided at Mgarr and Cirkewwa ports throughout the festive period, “and in particular yesterday, when these individuals did everything possible to try to control a chaotic situation that resulted in some people waiting more than three hours to board a vessel to cross back from Gozo to Malta.”
Said stated that “the Minister for Gozo attempted to conceal the fact that, yesterday, as a result of his incompetence, many of the Gozo Channel vessels were operating at almost half their passenger capacity. This was a clear consequence of mismanagement, as insufficient staff were allocated to the shifts. As a result, passengers were left behind and vessels were operating at only half capacity.”
He argued that as a result, “Gozo Channel employees, the Police and Transport Malta were left trying to cope with the chaos created by the Minister’s mismanagement of the Gozo Channel company.”
Said added that “at the same time, however, the PN cannot ignore the lack of planning that led to these circumstances and also expresses solidarity with the thousands of people who were stuck in traffic for long hours, as well as many others – Maltese and tourists alike – who were left waiting in the cold in long queues for extended periods to board the ferry on foot. Nor should we forget the many Gozitans who were waiting to cross to Malta for work-related reasons.”
He stressed that “it is pointless for the Minister for Gozo to attempt to justify what happened by blaming the weather, as though this were the first time strong winds had led to the suspension of the Fast Ferry service or forced Gozo Channel vessels to sail via the route behind Comino.”
“Yet, when faced with yesterday’s chaotic situation, Clint Camilleri did not hesitate to insult people’s intelligence and, confronted with the failure in planning and managing Gozo Channel services, resorted to blaming the weather,” stated Said.
The Opposition spokesperson for Gozo went on to say that Camilleri “even took to social media to declare that what occurred was due to thousands of people crossing back to Malta at the same time and because ‘large crowds had gathered’ as a result of adverse weather conditions.”
Said noted that “what he failed to say is that Gozo Channel vessels were not carrying their maximum passenger capacity due to serious mismanagement within Gozo Channel.
“At least we can rest assured that he was monitoring the situation as it developed and was in constant contact with the authorities.”
Chris Said concluded by saying that “while recalling that the sea service between Malta and Gozo continues to rely on vessels built by a Nationalist Government thanks to its vision for Gozo and the Gozitan people, the Nationalist Party reiterates its commitment that, once elected to government, it will invest in a new and modern fleet of vessels for Gozo Channel, including a proper fourth vessel – something the Labour Government has never delivered, having instead preferred to spend thousands of euro every day on the MV Nikolaos to lease a second-rate vessel.”
Photos PN: Scenes from Friday evening at Mgarr, Gozo