Call for Gozo Channel Co. to be added to Gozo Ministry portfolio

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nationalist MP Anton Tabone, is calling for Gozo Channel Co. to be placed under the responsibility of the Gozo Ministry.

In an interview with The Gozo Times being carried today, Mr Tabone argues that the move should take place because the company provides an infrastructural, and not just a social, service. Gozo Channel is currently within the portfolio of the IT and Government Investments Ministry.

However, Mr Tabone said the debate over the company had to take more account of the sister island's needs.

"The operations of Gozo Channel are intrinsically linked with the economy and life in Gozo. Whoever doesn't see this link is missing the real issue.

"It is the lifeline, our road. So you cannot talk about the operations of Gozo Channel without talking about the Gozitan economy."

He also said the government should make its policy clear on the future of Malta Aircharter, which provides the helicopter link between Malta and Gozo.

He does not deny the lack of national projects in Gozo in recent years, but refuses to be judgemental: "This is obviously an uncomfortable question for me; in the sense that comparisons are always odious because circumstances are not always the same."

However, he argues that Gozitans must ensure that they sustain every inch of progress they have made to date.

Mr Tabone also speaks about the "irony" of his position as Speaker, which leaves him "practically speechless" in parliament.

When asked if he expected to become the Minister for Gozo on his re-election last April, he said: "It is the prerogative of the prime minister to appoint ministers. That's how the situation is. The prime minister once again asked me to be the speaker of the house and that's the role I have for the time being."