'PL to transform Gozo into main motor of the economy'

A new Labour government would give Gozo direction and transform it into the main motor of the Maltese economy through upmarket tourism, opposition spokesman on Gozo Anton Refalo said yesterday.

Speaking during the debate in second reading of the Budgetary Measures Implementation Bill, Dr Refalo said the Ministry for Gozo had been formed some 20 years ago by the PN government to give Gozo a voice in the Cabinet and a sense of direction to identify and solve its special problems - an exercise that had succeeded. But Gozo's problems today were still the same as those of 20 years ago.

Under the Labour government of 1996-98, the ministry had become a parliamentary secretariat observing the same objectives, and had managed to register progress in certain sectors.

Four years ago, the Prime Minister had announced that the EU had acknowledged Gozo as a region. But, Dr Refalo said, only a small part of the projects co-financed by the EU were under the control of the Gozo Ministry. It was no longer responsible for a number of sectors, which had since been taken over by other ministries in Malta. The Ministry for Gozo had become a PN club which only served to dish out favours.

Dr Refalo said the Eco-Gozo project contained some 70 projects which had been mentioned over and over again. Even the minister had acknowledged that the concept was difficult to explain.

Neither the catamaran nor helicopter services were mentioned in the Budget. The Gozo hospital had been reduced to a polyclinic, and serious medical cases still had to be referred to Mater Dei Hospital in Malta.

In past legislatures, only the Customs and VAT departments, the police and the army were not under the aegis of the Gozo Ministry. The picture today was different, because many workers did not even know to whom they reported. Gozo was no longer Malta's showcase. Gozitans, he said, had become second-class citizens.

He complained that a number of parliamentary questions were being answered by ministers other than the Minister for Gozo, and stressed that "Maltese" ministers should not dictate to Gozitans because they were not aware of Gozo's special problems. Gozitans must stand up for their rights because no Maltese would try to solve the island's problems, he said.

Foreign investment in Gozo had dried up. How had Gozo benefited from the work which HSBC had transferred to Gozo and for which it was paid good money? A card-manufacturing factory had not paid salaries to its workers for a long time.

Exports from Gozo were not even one per cent of the total national exports.

Turning to upmarket tourism, Dr Refalo said Gozo had 26 beds per square kilometre compared to Malta's 65. In Gozo only half were occupied while in Malta, occupancy in these hotels was 60 per cent or more.

In 2003, Gozo had 26 per cent of the Malta tourism market, which had shrunk to 23 per cent in 2008. There were over 750 registered unemployed in Gozo - the highest number since 1992.

Dr Refalo belied government statements that it had worked for Gozo to be given preferential treatment by the EU. The first PN Cabinet meeting held in Gozo had promised a communal centre and voted Lm20,000, but funds had dried up and the project proved to be yet another white elephant.

The road leading to Xlendi had remained in a state of disrepair. The last time any development had taken place in Xlendi Bay was under the last Labour government. Drainage was flowing straight into the sea at Żewwieqa Bay.

For the Budget to be realistic for Gozo, there must be an NSO office on the sister island, which would be able to monitor all trends.

Concluding, Dr Refalo said it was important that the tender for the sea transport contract between the two islands be transparent because it was the umbilical cord for the island. He therefore called for a roadmap for Gozo as an eco-island.

Chris Cardona (PL) said that the opposition and the people could never agree that the Budget had strengthened the country's financial position. People could not identify with the Budget measures, and this showed how distanced the government was from the people's needs.

The Bill sought to curb tax avoidance and could have been better implemented in two different laws, rather than a single document. The government had failed to address the difficulties being faced by a number of industries.

Although the government had recognised Gozo as being an important driving force in the development of tourism, it had failed to adequately address the difficulties of the sector. Moreover, the situation had been exacerbated by the imposition of the bed tax.

While in other countries the manufacturing industry had thrived, Malta's manufacturing industry had not, and yet the government had failed to identify and address the obstacles for this industry.

Dr Cardona stated that the government had tried to ride on a feel-good factor but had failed to stimulate those sectors which were performing badly.

Local enterprise and foreign investment were the two important driving forces for Malta's economy, but the main thrust should come from the government.

He said that the opposition wanted SmartCity to succeed, but he criticised the government for having failed to fulfil its electoral promise of creating 5,000 job opportunities in the IT sector through the project, despite having used this as a flagship in its electoral campaign.

The introduction of the new utility tariffs had neutralised all the benefits introduced in the Budget and had neutralised competitiveness. People were afraid of reforms because they would always lead to more taxes.

Dr Cardona said that the government needed to be the promoter of a culture change so that Malta became a success within the EU. This could only be done with the stamping out of inefficiency, lack of discipline, bad practices, lack of transparency, aura of corruption and nepotism.

The government needed to see that Malta would no longer be seen as a third-world country within the EU. Malta faced big social problems and this was directly related to the government's actions, including the removal of persons from social benefits and the failure to provide medicines to sick people.

Concluding, Dr Cardona said that the government had taken the electorate for a ride; it lacked social conscience. He said that a new Labour government would address the difficulties being faced by stakeholders in Malta's economy and would work without partisan interests to address social problems.