Gozo chamber hopes for true dialogue

The Gozo Business Chamber yesterday said it hoped that the spirit of dialogue "so much vaunted" by the Investments Ministry would lead to true discussions for the improvement of life in Gozo.

In a statement, the chamber referred to comments made by the ministry in the wake of Investment Minister Austin Gatt's walk-out during a chamber meeting two weeks ago.

The chamber said it could not accept the fact that the ministry had personally targeted its president for the incident. Dr Gatt walked out of the meeting after chamber president John Magro objected to holding a discussion on the operations of Gozo Channel.

The chamber said: "The president of the chamber remarked to the minister that the agenda of the meeting had been set by the Gozo Business Chamber and that the minister could not take the discussion into his own hands according to his own agenda. The reaction of the minister to go out at that stage was truly disproportionate..."

The chamber said that a unanimously approved resolution was sent to the prime minister after the meeting appealing for dialogue on matters relating to the lifeline of Gozo.

"What has been achieved by subsequent governments cannot be haphazardly thrown away at the stroke of a pen without any consultation whatsoever," the chamber said.