Being the last budget before the general election, one was hoping for a glimpse of the government’s plan for Gozo. Or, at least, an attempt at one.

Surprisingly, the government did not even bother to pretend and opted to leave out altogether what has traditionally been a Gozo section in its budget.

One can understand why. It faced a choice: either to repeat promises it has been making for nine consecutive years or else show us it lacks the vision.

So we were regaled with a government plan for the future without a word on new investment in Gozo. Not a word on new incentives to support small and medium enterprises in Gozo. Not one single idea to start turning around the shambolic situation of Gozo’s healthcare service. Not a new cent poured into Gozo’s MCAST. Not one single proposal on how to start bringing to Gozo the 4,000 Gozitans who cross daily to work in Malta.

More worryingly, not a single effort to address Gozo’s biggest challenges: the constant brain drain with Gozitans moving to Malta for better work opportunities; the growing discrepancies between the average wage in Malta and that in Gozo; and the lack of foreign investment on the island.

It was astonishing to hear a three-hour speech without a single word uttered on Gozo’s healthcare system. This is how serious the government is about addressing Gozo’s priorities. At a time when all Gozitans agree that the sell-off of Gozo’s only hospital was not in the island’s best interest, the government opted to remain silent. It’s a costly silence, tagged at €80 million a year.

Employment in Gozo was another area that the government opted to ignore in this year’s budget speech. This is understandable because the government’s track record when it comes to job creation in Gozo is abysmal.

Unemployment rates might be low but when you look at what kind of jobs are being created, and under which conditions, there is not much for Labour to be satisfied with.

To make matters worse, the government keeps inflating the public sector in Gozo in jobs-for-votes schemes, draining already limited resources from the private sector.

A weak private sector in Gozo is only pushing more Gozitan workers to Malta, where salaries are more attractive. Nine years after promising better-paying jobs in Gozo, the statistics are clear. While the difference in the average salary in Malta and Gozo in 2012 was of a little more than €300 a year, it has now increased eightfold, reaching a whopping €2,500.

This means that, compared to their peers in Malta, workers in Gozo are essentially putting in two months of work for free.

The average household in Malta earns €4,384 more than its Gozitan equivalent each year. Back in 2012, the difference did not exceed €1,800.

These are the challenges facing Gozo and its economy and Labour has no idea how to start addressing them.

The average household in Malta earns €4,384 more than its Gozitan equivalent each year- Chris Said

Gozitans have lost count of infrastructural projects promised by Labour along the years. Whatever happened to the cruise liner terminal, the yacht marina, the numerous afforestation projects, the Marsalforn breakwater, the cruise liner platform in Xlendi, the building of a new hospital, a parking project in Xlendi, a carnival village, the restoration of the Calypso Cave, the SME hub in Xewkija, the astronomic observatory, the restoration of the aqueduct, the home for the elderly in Nadur, to mention just a few?

Then you have a full category of projects that were started and somehow abandoned along the way or are progressing at a snail’s pace: the home for the elderly in Għajnsielem, a new primary school in Victoria, a park-and-ride area near the horse racing track, a family park in Xagħra, the Gozo museum, Villa Lauri, the Gozo experimental farm, new facilities for the SPCA… 

The only two projects in Gozo that finally took off are the reconstruction of Mġarr Road, in Nadur and the building of the Aquatic Centre, in Victoria. But,  before we celebrate their completion, would someone let us know the cost of each and compare that with the initial estimate? Mark my words, we are in for a huge surprise.

Embellishing our roundabouts, covering a few streets with tarmac and organising cultural events are all well and good. But Gozo’s economy needs more than that.

If one were hoping that the government, by now, would have what it takes to rejuvenate Gozo, the latest budget dashed all hopes. What we are left with is a government that is taking clientelism in Gozo to a whole new level, hoping it would be enough to secure another term in office.

Gozo needs a visionary government, one that understands the challenges the island faces and with the experience and the credibility to turn things around.

I invite readers to go through the Nationalist Party’s proposals for the future of Gozo, a plan to inject dynamism in an economy that desperately needs it, a strategy to lure back sustainable investment and a true willingness to build a future that guarantees the highest quality of life.

We owe it to our people, to the island we love and, more importantly, to those Gozitans who are not yet born but who will be inheriting the island we are leaving behind.