9 comments so far.“Let us unite and work for a Gozo inhabited by ourselves”
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“I would like to share my experience with the readers of gozonews.com. I am sure that many have had similar experiences but have either not found the time to write or have accepted the situation and try to bear with the status quo.
On the 20th February, I needed to go to Malta from Gozo in the afternoon. Being Carnival Monday, I realised that by car, I would have to wait for approximately one hour before boarding the ferry as informed by fellow people queuing, that was how long they had been waiting for!
My first appointment in Mosta would have been missed unless I made it on the next ferry and overall I made a decision to use public transport once in Malta, rather than wait for the next ferry and take my own car. It was a job to find parking space in Mgarr. Of course the car park at the ferry was full as usual but luckily I did make it on time by running back to the ticket hall.
Fortunately, I took a lift to Mosta with a relative and did make it on time for my first appointment. My next appointment was in Zabbar. I waited for 30 minutes until a bus took me to Bombi for another bus to Zabbar. I realised that I would have just missed the bus from Birkirkara to Zabbar and hence my decision to go to Bombi. After another 15 minute wait, I took a bus to Zabbar through Paola. All in all I arrived 45 minutes late for my second appointment but alas I blamed the traffic. With Arriva, it took me 1 hour and 35 minutes from Mosta to Zabbar.
From Zabbar I took a bus back to Bombi as again the bus to Birkirkara would not have come for another 15 minutes. All in all, I arrived back in Mosta at 18.50hr. I then waited till 19.40 hr for a bus to Cirkewwa. Note that there is even no shelter at Mosta centre for bus users going north. Thank God the rain and the wind gave us a break on Monday. We arrived at Cirkewwa at 20.17hr and caught the 21.15hr ferry ie another one hours wait.
Please note that there were 4 Gozo channel employees in the little cabin at the entrance of the shelter cabin in Cirkewwa. All 4 main doors were wide open and it was freezing cold. Is it the employees’ job to close the doors and keep the place a little warm? Well I did it on that Monday night .
A couple of tourists were surprised at having to wait till 21.15hr for the next ferry, could you imagine how one would feel if they had a similar experience as mine on a regular basis?
Usually this similar trip with my own car would have taken me back to Mgarr in Gozo by 18.20hr. On that Monday it took me 21.40hr to reach Mgarr ie 3 hours and 20 minutes later!
Friday 2nd March. Air Malta flight form Heathrow arrives relatively on time. We quickly flee though passport control as 4 or 5 people are available to check our passports! We arrive in the luggage hall and one of my luggages is already there! What a luxury I thought as it had been some time since luggages arrived this quick! But then there is a long break with the same 4 pieces of luggage rotating round and round again.
Then an announcement is made that there shall be a long delay for the rest of the luggage to arrive. Indeed it takes about 25 minutes. I feel tired and frustrated because even if this time the flight had arrived on time, the luggage people let us down. We miss the 01.50hr ferry and have to wait for the 04.00hr ferry! What a pleasant welcome to Gozo!
Monday 5th March. I have had a delay and miss the 18.00hr ferry. There one goes again. The next ferry is at 19.15hr. At least there seems to be some more light than usual in the new boarding waiting area and life is expected to go unchanged!
Am I the only one to expect a better service and a better life for us in Gozo ?
Most Gozitans suffer for years on end to keep their jobs in Malta but also enjoy their family life in Gozo. It is becoming increasingly impossible to do so. In the past we ran for the bus but knew the exact times to Cirkewwa and it would have been rare for a Gozitan not to catch the ferry because a bus was full. Non- Gozitans were not allowed on board unless there were plenty of empty spaces and the bus took us just next to the ferry and many times we made it by jumping over board when the ferry had already shut its door. Of course this is not acceptable any longer. It is not safe but it is safe to make people depressed and anxious out of missing the ferry so often.
No wonder our young generation is seeking housing in Malta. Gozo’s identity is on the decline because Gozitans are on Exodus seeking a reasonable life in Malta. Ask any Gozitan what the biggest hurdle for us is. It is the ferry! Our lives have to rotate around it. We need the bridge or the tunnel and we need it now.
Fellow Gozitans must unite. Forget what political party you belong to and if you want to seriously start lobbying for better connection to the mainland please contact us. We cannot waste more time.
One final plea- all priority boarding except for ambulances and other emergency health or emergency security personnel MUST COME TO A HALT. What an injustice! One of the main management principles in modern day states that ‘managers’ at the top of the hierarchy must visit the shop floor. How can a member of parliament, a magistrate etc understand what their people are talking about unless they experience all the above? ! Lead by example folks!
No young people in their right state of mind would seriously opt to settle in Gozo. In itself this is not a bad thing because out there, Gozitans can reach their full potential. How can one develop in Gozo as things are now?!
I seriously ask all to reflect on our situation and work hard for change. Let us unite and work for a Gozo inhabited by ourselves.”
Margaret Spiteri
Xaghra
Hi Margaret, regarding the evening Heathrow to Malta flight I complained before. I do understand that this very annoying when you arrive at Cirkewwa only to see the ramp going up and then another wait till 0415 in the morning to catch the next ferry Cirkewwa was full of tourists sleeping on their luggages or the floor.
I was told by a foreign person who regularly writes on this site and (who thinks that she runs Gozo) that I should get the day flight. These people do not seem to know the difference in price between day flight and night flight.
I suggest that Gozo channel and Air Malta ought to get together and thrash this out for us poor people who cannot afford to buy a day flight at double the price.
By the way Margaret did you realise how long it took you once you left your home in England and the time you got to your home in Gozo?
As a Brit living on Gozo I agree with everything Margaret and Tony say. The competent authorities must get their heads together and come to timetable agreement. On the subject of affording flights, this is very relevant. My wife and I can’t afford the comfortable daytime flights. Thankfully we don’t go back to the UK very often but when we do, it is always a ‘red eye.’ Things could be made more comfortable. On the plus side it is always such a relief to get back to Gozo that the anticipation of arrival blows the aggravation away. This is such a lovely island. Having traveled the world, Gozo is the place I want to be.
No Margaret, you are not the only one who expects a better life on Gozo!!
There is so much which can be improved. Certainly one thing is the ferry schedule. We suffered from the same problem last year that we missed the ferry and had to wait so long.
The main question for me is ‘why is everything been taken for granted’ or in other words ‘why is there seemingly nobody interested in tackling these issues of abundance’?
Another issue: Gozo could be, in my view, the first island with electric cars! The island is small and the implementation of battery-charging stations easy to fulfill. This topic could be brought up to one of the ‘big’ car companies who might be interested to implement with the side effect of promoting their brand on GOZO. Imagine reading in the news: GOZO, the first island in the world with electric cars! I can imagine the world would look with surprise at this little dot in the Mediterranean where it was possible to put in practice!
The discourse is in contradiction with the title/theme of the article.
Isn’t its secluded, and therefore preserved lifestyle, what makes the beauty and the charm of Gozo ? Do you see it just as a suburb of Malta or even London ?
The electric cars or anything similar seems like a brillant idea. Coudn’t this take place within the “Eco-Gozo” Project ?
Sabine, what do you know about preserved? We do not want to be preserved. We Gozitans want to live a normal life which we can’t. I work shift in Malta and I’m spending every day either waiting for the ferry or searching for a parking both near ferry terminal Gozo or ferry terminal Malta. I start work at 6 and have to take the 3.30am ferry otherwise I don’t make it on time as next ferry is at 5am. When I arrive at work I have to wait an hour before starting work. Yesterday I finished work at noon. Do you know what time I arrived home in Gozo? At 3.30pm. You being a foreigners we have to count your comments as invalid. So think again before commenting, thank you.
@ Margaret Spiteri
The only solution for Gozo is a BRIDGE. This is the only way if we want to be equal with the inhabitants of our sister island.
Margaret and Peter, you have hit the nail spot on. A bridge or a tunnel would be a new life for us Gozitans because with all the travelling to and from work we just exist. We have no life. It is a huge necessity for us to have direct access to Malta. At the moment we’re at the mercy of gozo channel. Why do I have to be at mgarr 45mins before the scheduled ferry time to make sure I board the ferry with my car? Since it’s expensive to cross everyday with the car, most gozitans opted to buy a car and leave it at cirkewwa so as to be able to get to work. That’s another licence we can do without each year without adding the maintenance and fuel costs. Can anyone see what we go through each day (minimum 6hrs a day travelling)?
NO BRIDGE,NO TUNNEL BOTH ARE TOO EXPENSIVE TO BUILD AND LEST NOT FORGET TO MANTAIN THEM IS A YEAR ROUND JOB ,GOZO WILL LOSE IT’S CHARISMA IF IT WAS JOINED TO MAINLAND MALTA.SORRY PPL USE THE FERRIES ON OCCASION YOU MIGH GET A BEATING IN THE ROUGH SEAS,AND THAT’S THE END OF IT,BUNCH OF LANDLUBBER CRY BABIES! THE SEA ISN’T EVEN SHARK INFESTED ,THAT MIGHT CHANGE MY OPINION,ON THE SAID SUBJECT,AYE MISS YOUR PLANE YOU GET TO WAIT IN THE COLD,NOT LIKE CIRKEWWA IS SIBERIA,
YES TUNNEL OR A BRIDGE BOTH ARE THE SALVATION OF US GOZITANS IF WE DO NOT WANT TO SEE ONLY FOREIGNERS INSTEAD OF GOZITANS LIVING IN GOZO BECAUSE OF THE INTERNAL MIGRATION. NOTHING AGAINST FOREIGNERS BUT IF WE WANT TO MANTAIN GOZO’S CHARISMA IT SHOULD BE INHABITED MAINLY BY IT’S OWN PEOPLE THAT IS GOZITANS.
P.S.- EXPENSIVE TO BUILD A CONNECTION? What will happen 15 years from now, when the ferries will have to be taken off the line? Will the government undertake to build a new fleet and will it undertake to build five or six fleets on a time span of 150 years (normal tunnel time span)? Is providing a road for more than 4,000,000 commuters and over 1,100,000 cars crossing evry year to Gozo a “waste of money”?