Updated 12.50pm with Labour statement

The powers of the Gozo ministry should be devolved to an elected council enjoying executive powers, Nationalist Gozitan MP Chris Said proposed.

“There would still be a minister for Gozo in the central government but the council would be the decision-maker on the things that directly impact Gozo,” the MP said, stressing he was expressing his personal opinion.

Said, who hails from Nadur, feels that Gozo’s regionality should also be enshrined in the constitution. “Once we’ve changed the constitution, we can have a council directly elected by Gozitans for the decisions that affect Gozo”.

In 1987, Eddie Fenech Adami became the first prime minister to include a minister for Gozo in his cabinet. He had appointed Anton Tabone.

The government has had a Gozo minister since, bar 1996, when then prime minister Alfred Sant chose, instead, to assign the portfolio to a parliamentary secretary.

“Introducing a minister responsible for Gozo was a good step. But that was almost 40 years ago; it’s high time to move forward,” Said, who was first elected as a Nationalist MP from the Gozo district in 2008, remarked.

'A govenment within a government'

The Gozo minister’s portfolio is presently wide-ranging and involves much of the government’s work on the island.

The Gozo ministry, for example, is the one responsible for road building, public works and the construction of social housing in Gozo. The Gozo court building also falls under the responsibility of this ministry.

The ministry has also taken on projects related to sports, such as the building of an Olympic swimming pool in Victoria, and sends Gozitan athletes to the “island games”.

The Gozo ministry is also heavily involved in areas where responsibilities fall under other ministries.

“The Gozo ministry operates as a government within a government, and the minister has the role of a ‘prime minister’ for Gozo,” a senior figure in government said when explaining how the ministry works. “The Gozo offices of authorities and entities that do not fall under Gozo still see a heavy involvement of the Gozo ministry.”

The proposal by Said comes at a time when the Gozo minister, Clint Camilleri is increasingly under the spotlight.

Gozo minister Clint Camilleri has been accused of an alleged kickback scheme linked to Mġarr harbour. File photo: Matthew Mirabelli

In November, the commissioner for standards in public life found that Camilleri had abused his power when he gave the then girlfriend of a cabinet colleague a top-paid consultancy job she was not qualified for and that she did not do.

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi has also filed two requests for a magistrate to investigate Camilleri. The former Nationalist MP alleges that the minister was aware of a kickback scheme in connection with much sought-after mooring spots at Mġarr harbour.

The other request is to look into roadworks that went €10 million over budget to complete.

Said argued that a body directly elected by the Gozitan people would be better suited to administering affairs on the island.

As to what powers the Gozo council should have, Said listed control over tourism policy, infrastructure and even in certain areas connected to health. “Where clinics are built, for example, should be decided by the Gozitans,” the former shadow minister for Gozo said.

As it stands, one person has control of much of what happens in Gozo, he added. Said feels that having a council would better reflect the needs and opinions of the Gozitan people.

Having a council-led Gozo would also mean that plans for the island would not change every time there is a new minister. “We’ve had three ministers under the Labour government and three different plans to relocate the Gozo law courts,” Said noted to illustrate his point.

Said, who served as justice minister in a Nationalist administration, pointed out that a Gozo minister would still be needed to stand up for Gozitans in government decisions.

“From my experience in cabinet, the Gozo minister always had the role of scrutinising every decision and asking how it will impact Gozo because the effects of policies on Gozo are often unique,” he said.

Other ministries have devolved powers over much of their portfolio, he noted. “Look at Lands or Planning, the executive decisions made in those areas are not made by the ministers but by the boards,” he said.

Said’s proposals are not unprecedented.

Gozo had an elected regional authority – the Gozo Civic Council – until 1973. It even had the power to impose taxes and allowed Gozitans to have a direct say in the running of their island.

Labour: This would add bureaucracy

In a reaction, the Labour Party said that Said’s proposal would reduce the Gozo Minister to a “mere formality” and also lead to the council of Gozitan mayors being abolished. “Said’s proposal would result in confusion and huge bureaucracy to the detriment of Gozo and Gozitans,” Labour said.

“It would deprive Gozitans of having a fully functional ministry that sees to their challenges and aspirations, as did all Gozo Ministries for the past forty years.” 

The party said Said's proposal helped explain why the "extremist faction within the PN" was targeting the current Gozo Minister, Clint Camilleri.

"They don’t want Gozitans to have their own ministry," Labour said. 

Correction January 2, 2025: A previous version misstated the first-ever Gozo Minister.