Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1543912
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 MARCH 2026 NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT OF A CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS UNDER Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan for Malta 2023-2027 The Ministry responsible for European Funds has launched a call for project proposals as indicated hereunder: • Combined Intervention I73.5 & I73.5.1: On-Farm Productive Investments The call will close on Friday 12 th June 2026 at noon. Prospective applicants are encouraged to refer to https://fondi.eu/ to access the CAP Strategic Plan, as well as the Guidance Notes and the application forms related to this call. Information sessions for this call are being organised as follows: • Mġarr Farmers Cooperative Society Limited, Sir Temi Zammit Road, Mġarr on Friday 27th March 2026 • Notre Dame Hall, Misraħ tal-Madonna Medjatriċi, Ħaż-Żabbar on Wednesday 01st April 2026 • The Oaks Business Centre, Farsons Street, Ħamrun on Tuesday 07th April 2026 • Government Experimental Farm, Mgarr Road, Xewkija on Wednesday 15th April 2026 To register for these information sessions and further information, kindly access the below QR Code or call SEM on 2779 7300. Further queries are to be sent by email on fondi.eu@gov.mt Plan to boost Gozo connectivity could backfire, regional authority warns New report by Gozo Regional Development Authority warns more ferry routes risk placing more pressure on the already saturated Mġarr port MĠARR Harbour has become one of the busiest ports in Europe, with Gozo's regional authority warning that further expansion of ferry services could put more pressure. Published this month by the Gozo Regional Development Au- thority, the review reveals that passenger traffic through Mġarr reached 7.4 million movements by the end of 2025. This exceeds what was once con- sidered an unlikely high-growth ceiling of seven million set out in a 2007 government-commissioned strategic plan, which projected demand up to 2026. Vehicle crossings have risen 68% over the past decade, and Eurostat data places Mġarr among the 30 busiest maritime ports in the Eu- ropean Union by vessel calls. The port is Gozo's sole maritime gateway, but it also functions as a passenger terminal, vehicle ferry port and freight logistics hub. The GRDA puts it bluntly: "Harbour operations and land-side inter- faces are close to their practical capacity limits." The congestion is not purely a maritime problem. The report flags persistent traffic pressure in Għajnsielem and along the Mġarr-Rabat corridor, where multiple transport flows—private vehicles, public bus routes, park- and-ride shuttles, private coaches, and rental vehicles—all converge on the same bottleneck. The picture is set to worsen. Ox- ford Economics forecasts contin- ued growth in Gozo's economic output and population, which the GRDA says will inevitably trans- late into additional demand on port infrastructure. The report's most pointed concern is direct- ed at two recently announced government initiatives—Sliema- Buġibba-Mġarr ferry route and the planned deployment of a fifth Gozo Channel vessel. Both are intended to improve inter-island connectivity but the GRDA warns that, while well-in- tentioned, these measures risk exerting additional pressure on an already saturated port environ- ment. The report calls for coordinat- ed short, medium and long-term measures to future-proof port operations, and announces the es- tablishment of a multidisciplinary taskforce charged with developing a comprehensive plan for Mġarr's optimisation and future develop- ment. Drawing on new AIS-based tracking data introduced in Jan- uary 2025, the GRDA has for the first time mapped the precise shape of daily demand at Mġarr. The findings show a highly con- centrated pressure window be- tween 9am and 4pm, with peak volumes consistently occurring at 10am and 4pm throughout the year. Summer months amplify the total volume significantly, but the timing of the crunch does not change with the season. The report also notes that official NSO statistics likely undercount actual passenger movements, since they exclude passengers carried by commercial operators other than Gozo Channel and the fast ferry service, as well as cruise liner arrivals. NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt The Mgarr Harbour (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)