Last week’s power cut in Gozo left hundreds of people in the dark – literally and figuratively, causing frustration and anger among all those affected by the outage. A frustration which grew as a result of the poor communication from the authorities ­– Enemalta’s live power outage map did not show any power cuts and the company took a long time to make a public statement.

The Gozitan community’s anger is perfectly understandable given that this is the second summer in a row where Malta is experiencing extensive electricity outages. Many people had hoped that, with proper planning over the past months, such a situation would have been avoided. Yet, it is evident that the government once again took the matter lightly and Gozitans are now facing the consequences of such incompetence.

Consequences that are faced by the elderly (some of whom are home bound) who have to deal with the intense heat, as well as thousands of families who are left with no option but to discard refrigerated food and whose electronic devices have been severely damaged.

This is not a pleasant situation for people who are already faced with an increase in the cost of living and who struggle to make ends meet. Above all, it is not an ideal situation for the community at large who has often been promised a better quality of life. This is an insult to all those who entrusted their vote to the current government at the last election.

There are also consequences for the Gozitan business community, which is still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and which is faced with an inadequate infrastructure to carry out its day-to-day operations.

It is indeed sad that companies operating in industries as varied as manufacturing and printing as well as those overseeing supply chains are still faced with steep challenges leading to some closing down while others are left with no option but to scale down substantially.

The business community in Gozo still can’t compete on a level playing field with their Maltese counterparts because of the added costs they face in their everyday operations, especially when it comes to transport between the two islands.

Businesses face other challenges such as a lack of human resources, development on the island and the dependency on the construction and tourism sectors. Above all, the Gozitan economy still lacks diversification and proper plans for sustainable mobility.

The business community in Gozo still can’t compete on a level playing field with their Maltese counterparts- Alex Borg

Adding to the above challenges, the Gozitan business community is in dire straits when it comes to infrastructural stability. A situation which is causing unexpected losses for business owners. Losses that affect their bottom line and, ultimately, their business sustainability.

The inevitable question is: Who will assume the responsibility for such losses incurred by the Gozitan business community? The attitude adopted by both the prime minister and the energy minister is not encouraging at all. Moreover, the energy minister’s promise of compensation for the repeated power cuts sounds like a case of ‘too little, too late’.

The Gozitan community deserves better. It deserves concrete action and a holistic strategy to ensure power cuts become a thing of the past. It deserves answers on how the problem will be addressed in the short term but, most of all, in the long term. They deserve action and solutions that put their mind at rest.

Solutions should include the recent proposal by the Gozo Business Chamber for the island to have a completely independent power supply. Solutions which call for proactiveness and not reactiveness.

The Gozitan community needs quick answers because frustration is growing due to this surreal situation. They also deserve quick answers because the losses incurred are substantial.

The ball is in the government’s court. The government must act, and the recent European and local election results are a clear indicator that Gozitans are not happy with the government’s performance and attitude.

Meanwhile, it is up to us, the Nationalist Party, to keep the government on its toes on such serious matters. It is also up to us, the PN, to continue showing the electorate that only we offer the prospect of a truly better Gozo and Malta.

Alex Borg is the Nationalist Party’s spokesperson on Gozo.