The Nationalist Party has said “better late than never,” in its reaction to the Government’s announcement today that two new ships will be added to the Gozo Channel fleet.
The PN stated that just a few days after a press conference [1] held by the Opposition in Cirkewwa, and following the chaos that arose on both sides of the channel during the festive period, “the Government today announced that it will be modernising the Gozo Channel fleet through investment in two new vessels and upgrades to the three existing vessels, one of which will start being used for the transport of cargo between Mgarr Harbour and the Freeport. In place of the Nikolaos, another vessel will be leased.”
“Better late than never,” the PN said. “Even if we still have to wait at least another three years for the new vessels to arrive – since no tender has yet been issued and the Government is still at the stage of drawing up designs and beginning work on the procurement process. Even in the case of the vessel that will be chartered to replace the Nikolaos, the call has yet to be issued.”
The PN said that it cannot but welcome this development with satisfaction, “all the more so because it has been insisting for many years on exactly what the Government announced today – even if thirteen years late.”
“All the more so because what was announced with great fanfare today by three Ministers is in fact an exact photocopy of the proposals that the PN has been putting forward for years, with the Government now set to implement what the PN has long been proposing,” it said.
“This also includes the setting up of a Task Force that still has to study what infrastructural improvements are required at Mgarr Harbour to accommodate these changes – a proposal that the Partit Nazzjonalista has also been making for years,” the PN said.
It argued that “it is a pity that 13 years were wasted before the Government took this decision and that, after burdening Gozitans and Maltese with a second-hand vessel like the Nikolaos for so many years, it is now, because an election is approaching, trying to show that it is doing something.”
The PN added that “we are now being told that the solution will come in 2029, when the solution was needed today and should have been planned long ago.”
It insisted that “had the Government accepted the proposals that the Opposition has been making for years, we would already be enjoying the ferry service between Malta and Gozo that we deserve in today’s times.”
The PN concluded by saying that it is, “naturally, however, better late than never. Provided that what was announced today is actually implemented. We only hope that this is not yet another Silly Season promise, and that the Minister for Finance – who was not present for today’s briefing with journalists – has approved these announced projects.”
The statement was signed by Chris Said Shadow Minister for Gozo and Toni Bezzina Shadow Minister for Transport, Agriculture and Fisheries.
File photo: Gozo News/Alain Salvary