Gozo’s connectivity with particular focus on the fast ferry service
Good afternoon to you all. First off, I would like to thank the Standing Committee for Gozo Affairs for inviting us to join them in this discussion regarding Gozo’s connectivity. The ultimate aim for GUG has always been better connectivity between the islands and more efficient means of transport for the students’ daily or weekly commute to and from university or any other educational institutions.
After over 8 years of being vocal about the need for a fast ferry service between the islands, we were very grateful for its introduction in June 2021. The convenience it presented for Gozitans and the additional option for commuting it gave to students, were all positive aspects to this introduction. It is a very efficient way of transport which was only ever dreamt of before that one can arrive in 45 minutes total from Gozo to the capital city. This has proved to be not only a good service, but also a sustainable one by decreasing traffic and carbon emissions. The employees are always very welcoming, and kind and many people are satisfied with its service overall. However, with each and every introduction of a new service, through its initial years, suggested improvements may always be pointed out to better the service. The following points will be made with responsibility, good intentions and the best interest of Gozitan students in mind.
Throughout the past scholastic year students were faced with the dilemma of whether to commute between the islands by using the Fast Ferry or the Gozo Channel. Due to the fast ferry not being suitable for rough seas, many students are hindered to use the service because of sea sickness. Moreover, Gozitans deserve a better and more sheltered Fast Ferry terminal at Mgarr Harbour, that gives protection from the summer heat and the strong wind and rain during the winter months. The student community was also promised the Edu Fast Ferry card from the Education department that would give students a percentage of the money they spend monthly back, however although promised, it was never delivered, and many students continue to question why this card was not given to those who applied.
This past winter there were 3 main problems that students had to face. The main issue for students was when the fast ferry stopped operating due to bad weather. This caused panic, frustration and uncertainty throughout the student community. After meeting with transport Malta to revamp the X300 route at least on those days when the Fast Ferry is not in operation, this came to fruition. However, the big issue now is that the X300’s availability and timetable are never published publicly by TM and instead is sent to us, usually late, the morning of the cancellation of the Fast Ferry service, with this being too late of a notice to those travelling early in the morning. We suggest that this is published by TM on either their website or socials, at least one day prior to the service not working or as soon as the announcement of the cancellations are made by the ferry companies. Moreover, the timetable should include all the stops with their allocated times especially those at Qroqq3 and Universita2 with more times being included in the X300 route. Many students message us to know whether it will be in operation, and countless have expressed their wish of having the X300 operating on a daily basis again, from a survey that we have conducted. Currently, students that do not want to use the fast ferry are left with only one other option of using the Gozo Channel and catching the X1 bus from Ċirkewwa, which also lacks in punctuality especially during the evening, with it sometimes passing and not stopping due to it being full of tourists from the airport or not passing at all.
Another problem students face is that the ferry schedule has an approximate 3-hour gap between 10 am and 1 pm in which the service does not operate. This imposes a problem for students who have late morning or early afternoon lectures or those that have early lectures and are coming back to Gozo during those times. As of the 300 route from Fast Ferry, Lascaris to Msida, Qroqq3, during the past scholastic year, it was brought to our attention that this route was sometimes not punctual or else it sometimes did not arrive at all. This imposed difficulties for students, since they ended up going late to lectures, and discouraged students to use the fast ferry due to this inconvenience. While trying to enhance the 300, X1 and X300 routes for university students we must not forget the X1A and 150 routes that are utilised by MCAST students that can also be improved in their times and efficiency. If these two services were in better sync with each other and have better time availabilities with a reliable bus service, students would make more use of the fast ferry service for sure and I can vouch for that first hand.
Additionally, students hold GUG partly responsible for such inconveniences as they rely on us to facilitate their university life. Although trying our best and asking for a meeting with both TM and Transport Minister earlier in the year, we were left hanging without any replies and the problem was left unresolved. While we understand that these problems take time, resources, and effort to mitigate, we are sure that if taken care of and resolved, the improvement will be of benefit not only to the Gozitan student community who will utilise the services more if they are reliable and convenient, but also for the service providers themselves as well as for the environment of our islands that we hold so dear to our heart.
Il-Konnettivita’ t’Għawdex b’fok partikolari fuq is-servizz tal-Fast Ferry
Il-waranofsinhar it-tajjeb lilkom kollha. L-ewwel nett nixtieq nirringrazzja lill-iStanding Committee for Gozo Affairs talli stedintuna biex ningħaqdu magħkom għal dan id-diskors rigward il-konnettivita’ t’Għawdex. Il-GUG dejjem żammet il-konnettivita’ bejn il-gżejjer fil-quċċata tal-għanjiet tiegħu kif ukoll iż-żieda t’aktar mezzi effiċjenti tat-trasport għall-istudenti kemm minn u għall-univerita’ u instituzzjonijiet edukattivi oħra.
Il-GUG, wara numru ta’ snin tistħaq għall-importanza ta’ servizz ta’ Fast Ferry bejn il-gżejjer, kienet ferm grata għall-introduzzjoni tiegħu f’Ġunju tal-2021. Dan is-servizz għall-Għawdxin, ġab miegħu l-introduzzjoni ta’ mod ieħor ta’ kif student jista’ jmur lejn Malta, servizz li huwa mimli aspetti pożittivi. Il-Fast Ferry huwa mezz effiċjenti ta trasport, li f’total ta’ 45 minuta naslu minn Għawdex għal-Belt, u dan sa ftit snin ilu konna biss noħolmu li jista’ jsir fis-seħħ. Dan is-servizz wera mhux biss li hu utli u effiċjenti, imma ukoll wieħed sostenibbli. L-impjegati tas-servizzi tal-Fast Ferry huma kollha dħulin u l-istudenti huma sodisfatti bis-servizz minnu nnifsu. Madankollu, għal kull introduzzjoni ta’ xi ħaġa ġdida, fis-snin primarji, suġġerimenti għal titjib dejjem jistgħu jiġu mogħtija biex is-servizz dejjem jiġi ‘l quddiem. Il-punti li ġejjin se jsiru b’responsabbiltà, intenzjonijiet tajbin u fl-aħjar interess tal-istudent Għawdxi.
Matul is-sena skolastika li għaddiet l-istudenti affaċċjaw id-dilemma ta’ jekk għandhomx jivvjaġġaw bejn il-gżejjer billi jużaw il-Fast Ferry jew il-Gozo Channel. Minħabba li il-Fast Ferry mhuwiex addattat għal baħar imqalleb, ħafna studenti kienu xettiċi u żammew lura milli jużawh minħabba il-fatt li jista’ jagħmlilhom id-deni. Barra minn hekk, aħna l-Għawdxin jistħoqqilna Fast Ferry terminal aħjar li jagħti kenn mil-qilla tax-xemx fis-sajf kif ukoll mir-riħ u x-xita kefrin tax-xitwa. L-istudenti u l-edukaturi Għawdxin kienu mwiegħda l-Edu Fast Ferry card mid-dipartiment tal-Edukazzjoni li kienet se tagħti lill-istudenti persentaġġ tal-flus li jonfqu kull xahar lura, iżda għakemm imwiegħda, din qatt m’ingħatat u ħafna studenti baqgħu jistaqsuna għaliha.
Ix-xitwa li għaddiet kien hemm 3 problemi ewlenin li l-istudenti kellhom jaffaċċjaw. Il-kwistjoni ewlenija għall-istudenti kienet meta l-fast ferry kien jieqaf jopera minħabba l-maltemp. Dan ikkawża paniku, frustrazzjoni u inċertezza fil-komunità studenteska. Wara li ltqajna ma’ trasport Malta biex tiġġedded ir-rotta tal-X300, tal-inqas f’dawk il-jiem meta l-Fast Ferry ma jkunx qed jopera, din ukoll ġiet fis-seħħ. Madankollu, il-kwistjoni issa hija li d-disponibbiltà u l-iskeda tal-X300 qatt ma jiġu ppubblikati pubblikament minn Transport Malta u minflok jintbagħtu lilna biex nippublikawhom aħna, ġeneralment tard filgħodu tal-kanċellazzjoni tas-servizz Fast Ferry, u dan ikun tard wisq għal dawk l-istudenti li jivvjaġġaw kmieni filgħodu. Nissuġġerixxu li dan l-avviz jiġi ppubblikat minn Transport Malta fuq il-websajt jew il-medja soċjali tagħhom, mill-inqas ġurnata qabel li s-servizz ma jkunx se jaħdem jew hekk kif it-tħabbira tal-kanċellazzjoniji issir mill-kumpaniji tal-Fast Ferry. Barra minn hekk, l-iskeda għandha tinkludi l-waqfiet kollha bil-ħinijiet allokati tagħhom, speċjalment dawk ta’ Qroqq3 u Universita2, b’aktar ħinijiet jiġu inklużi fl-operazzjoni tal- X300. Bosta studenti jibagħtulna messaġġi biex ikunu jafu jekk tkunx se taħdem din ir-rotta, u għadd kbir esprimew ix-xewqa tagħhom li l-X300 terġa’ topera kuljum, fi stħarriġ li għamilna. Bħalissa, l-istudenti li ma jridux jużaw il-fast ferry baqgħu b’għażla waħda biss, li jużaw il-Gozo Channel u jaqbdu l-X1 miċ-Ċirkewwa, li wkoll hi nieqsa mill-puntwalità speċjalment filgħaxija, li kultant tgħaddi u ma tieqafx minħabba li tkun mimlija turisti mill-ajruport jew saħansittra ġieli ma tgħaddix.
Problema oħra li jiffaċċjaw l-istudenti hija li l-Fast Ferry jieqaf jopera bejn l-10 ta’ filgħodu u s-1 ta’ wara nofsinhar. Din timponi problema għall-istudenti li jkollhom lekċers tard filgħodu jew kmieni wara nofsinhar jew dawk li jkollhom lekċers kmieni u jkunu jridu jiġu lura lejn Għawdex f’dawk il-ħinijiet. Fir-rotta 300 mill-Fast Ferry, Lascaris, għall-Imsida, Qroqq3, matul is-sena skolastika li għaddiet, l-istudenti ġabu għall-attenzjoni tagħna li din ir-rotta ġieli ma kinitx puntwali jew inkella ġieli ma waslet qatt. Din imponiet diffikultajiet għall-istudenti, peress li spiċċaw waslu tard għal-lekċers, u skoraġġiethom milli jużaw il-fast ferry minħabba din l-inkonvinjenza. Filwaqt li nippruvaw insaħħu r-rotot 300, X1 u X300 għall-istudenti universitarji, ma rridux ninsew ir-rotot X1A u 150 li huma utilizzati mill-istudenti tal-MCAST li jistgħu wkoll jitjiebu fil-ħinijiet u l-effiċjenza tagħhom. Jekk dawn iż-żewġ servizzi jkunu sinkronizzati aħjar ma’ xulxin u jkollhom disponibbiltà aħjar ta’ ħinijiet, b’servizz tal-karozza tal-linja affidabbli, żgur li l-istudenti jagħmlu aktar użu mis-servizz tal-Fast Ferry u nista’ nkun xhud ta dan jiena stess.
Fuq kollox, l-istudenti jżommu lill-GUG parzjalment responsabbli għal dawn l-inkonvenjenzi peress li jiddependu minna biex niffaċilitaw il-ħajja universitarja tagħhom. Għalkemm qed nippruvaw nagħmlu l-almu tagħna u tlabna għal-laqgħa kemm ma’ TM kif ukoll mal-Ministru tat-Trasport aktar kmieni din is-sena, bqajna mingħajr ebda risposta u l-problema baqgħet hemm. Filwaqt li nifhmu li dawn il-problemi jieħdu ż-żmien, ir-riżorsi, u l-isforz biex jittranġaw, aħna ċerti li jekk jiġu solvuti, it-titjib ikun ta’ benefiċċju mhux biss għall-komunità studenteska Għawdxija li tagħmel aktar użu tas-servizzi jekk ikunu affidabbli u konvenjenti, iżda wkoll għall-fornituri tas-servizzi infushom kif ukoll għall-ambjent tal-gżejjer tagħna li tant huwa għal qalbna.
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