Profits Over Public Service? PN’s Alex Borg And Adrian Delia Out At New Gozo Ferry Skeleton Schedule
PN MPs Alex Borg and Adrian Delia accused the government of placing profits before service by failing to provide a decent schedule for commuters using the Gozo Fast Ferry.
“They are not rendering a public service at the moment. They are only checking which times are mostly profitable for them,” Borg told Lovin Malta.
“Despite talks and promises of subsidies, the public will continue to be unserved.”
The Gozo Fast Ferry has already received major backlash after publishing its winter schedule, which includes a skeleton amount of trips between Mġarr and Valletta compared to the summer schedule. While the schedule for peak tourism months included regular departures that went on until 12.30am during the weekend, the current schedule ends with a trip at 5pm from Mġarr to Valletta.
“Those who need to travel down for work at 9am, to shop, to have lunch, those who have any commitments and those who need to get back to Gozo after 5pm all aren’t being served,” Borg and Delia wrote in separate Facebook posts.
“The government is failing massively in its obligation to provide an effective service.”
Malta’s fast ferry services, which are split between two services, made up just 10% of all trips to Gozo during peak summer months, according to figures published last year.
From a total of 1,590,386 passengers that travelled between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa between June and August, just 197,858 used the fast ferry services, showing the massive domination of Gozo Channel Ferry.
Both fast ferry operators have said that the service link between Valletta and Gozo is “absolutely not financially viable”, and called for more government intervention.
Are you affected by the current fast ferry schedule? Let us know in the comments below
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