The €10 million Duke Residential, Shopping, Leisure and Wellbeing Complex in Victoria was yesterday evening inaugurated by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
The state of the art complex was built in place of the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel. It is spread over 4,000 square metres and also offers residential properties with apartments, offices and garages.
The construction of the complex, owned by Island Developments, took the environment into consideration with the adoption of environmentally-friendly initiatives. Its solar system and heat recovery unit are estimated to save a maximum of 18,250kWh of electricity per annum. This corresponds to a saving of 11.8 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Dr Gonzi said that over the past four years, Gozo benefitted from numerous investments, not least the road building programme.
The latest data, he said, showed that employment in Gozo expanded over a year ago by over 400 and the number of passengers crossing to Gozo increased by over 129,000 in the first nine months.
But these positive results did not leave room for complacency and it was time to accelerate reforms and investment so as to continue making Gozo a success.
The Prime Minister said that eco-Gozo is not only a slogan but it was the backbone of his government's policies for the island.
"My government is committed to dedicate to Gozo 10 percent of the EU funds we achieved for the period 2007-2013
"A number of projects have already been approved by the European Union and these include the continuation of the road building programme with a budget of over €7 million, further training and education investments which will continue to equip Gozitans with the necessary skills and further investments in the hospital.
"In addition, €2 million will be invested in the rehabilitation of Villa Rundle, the gardens adjacent to this complex. The cruise-liner berthing buoy in Xlendi and the reform we will be announcing in the public transport service are all aimed at improving the tourism product that Gozo already offers," he said.