Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg has argued that there is “national consent” about the need for a tunnel connecting Malta and Gozo as he responded to complaints aired by a group of NGOs.

“This project is intended to set up a permanent link between the two islands so as to overcome the challenges that Gozitan workers, families and patients face everyday when crossing the channel, as well as to give a boost to the Gozitan economy and social development by providing a better quality of life,” Borg said in a statement.

He referred to a judicial protest recently filed by 12 NGOs and groups, including the Chamber of Architects, which called on the government to undertake detailed and fully transparent studies before ploughing ahead with the tunnel.

However, Borg countered by noting that 11 studies have already been published, namely a preliminary assessment, an economic cost benefit analysis, a social impact assessment, a geological and geotechnical investigation, a project description statement, investigative coring, terms of reference for appropriate assessment, terms of reference for an environmental impact assessment, a study about the tunnel, forecasts for traffic flows through the tunnel and a conceptual design.

“The government is giving importance to this project because it realises that there is a national consent over it and because it realises the importance of it,” he said. “The process is a rigorous one, kickstarted in 2018 by Infrastructure Malta and is still ongoing, with a call for a pre-qualification questionnaire published in a European newspaper only a few weeks ago.”

“The government understands that this is a major project and will put a lot of attention into it, while assuring that the planning works, the excavation preparation works and the construction of the tunnel progress for the sake of reaching sustainable solutions and the best value for this capital investment.”