The Nationalist party would like to see Gozo develop as a region able to sustain itself and not be a mere extension of Malta, Opposition leader Bernard Grech said on Thursday.

He made his comments after touring a number of NGOs and businesses on the sister island. 

He observed that while the Labour government had promised jobs in Gozo for the Gozitans, the number of people from Gozo working in Malta had doubled in the past seven years.

He also criticised the government over its environmental record in Gozo, with only €1 million allocated for the purpose in the last budget. 

Other sectors which needed to be tackled, he said, included the infrastructure, with several promised projects having been shelved. 

On connectivity between the two islands, he said one needed to listen to what the people of Gozo want and professional studies are needed. Gozo should not become an extension of Malta such that it would lose its characteristics, he stressed.