Both party leaders, Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat, failed signally last Friday to address the real concerns expressed by Gozitan business representatives.

That is, perhaps, what comes with arriving at the last minute, complete with the attendant media, and leaving in a flurry. That is also, perhaps, due to the tempo and increased temperature of the imminent European Parliament elections.

Dr Muscat, who spoke first, spoke mostly about there not being enough statistical data on Gozo, which might or might not be true (Gordon Cordina speaking in the morning gave a whole slew of Gozo-related statistics), but is hardly the point.

Dr Gonzi first went into a direct attack against Labour and Dr Muscat, spurred perhaps by the harsh criticism levelled by Dr Muscat, but his prepared speech did not treat any of the concerns raised and was more of the same self-laudatory declamations that go so wrong for the listeners.

There was real anger expressed at the conference (Vision for the Development of the Island Region of Gozo) organised by the Gozo Business Chamber at the Grand Hotel in Mgarr. More than anger, there was worry.

The worry is bleakly explained: even the statistics produced by the Prime Minister showed that over the past five years Gozo has had a slower rate of growth than Malta. Consequently, there are fewer prospects for young people in Gozo and they are leaving in droves and relocating to Malta, as the daily grind of commuting by road and ferry prove in the end to be tedious. Others, as the conference was told, even find that staying in Gozo cramps their social life.

Consequently, employers are finding less and less take up on their offers of employment and this in turn – but it is not just this that is the issue – leads many to relocate away from Gozo or close up shop.

Besides, the government has not addressed many of the long-standing complaints and suggestions made by the business community. First and foremost of these is the need for a fixed wing airstrip, stated chamber president Joe Grech, about which nothing has been done.

But what was first stated by Mr Grech and repeated by most of the participants, was the need for Gozo to have its own self-running bodies, whether it is a Gozo Tourism Authority, a Gozo Statistics Office, a Gozo Enterprise, etc. Out there, mentioned in whispers, the leaders of the Gozo business community speak of one word: autonomy.

This became very clear in the very angry response from the participants provoked by Malta Enterprise chairman Alan Camilleri, who introduced his remarks by recounting a sorry farmhouse holiday he had some years back in Gozo when nothing was right. From this he then went on to lob direct criticisms at the Gozo businesses: they do not take up any of the ME schemes.

Rightly or wrongly, it was immediately picked up by many speakers who saw in this the classic way in which Gozo matters are perceived in Malta. As for the lack of take-up, many had stories to tell; that whenever they approach ME, they are told they do not qualify for this or for that.

In the end, Mr Camilleri got his knockout blow by a (of all names) Mrs Camilleri, a foreigner who is into crafts. She said she waited for her permit from ME for six whole years and that the Ta’ Dbiegi crafts village still lacks a toilet. “You are an absentee landlord,” she told Mr Camilleri, refusing to be mollified when he told her there was a girl at the Malta Enterprise office in Gozo. “A lovely girl,” Mrs Camilleri retorted, “ but a secretary nonetheless.”

In the afternoon, with the heat (meteorological) increasing, an equally robust and rough treatment was meted out to MEP hopeful Vince Farrugia, who appealed to his audience to discard the dependency syndrome that they only survive by the mercy of the Maltese.

He urged his listeners to go out and grab their chances like, according to him, Maltese entrepreneurs do.

He also pointed out, and in this he was supported by a foreigner who is already in this field, that Gozo can be a wonderful location for ICT industries given that people can work from home nowadays as long as they have connectivity.

Most of the audience, however, is still linked to traditional approaches and they all had their complaints to register.

One issue that involves all Gozo is access, and access means Gozo Channel. Joe Grech asked in his inaugural address whether Gozo Channel should drastically reduce its ferry prices so as to encourage more people to visit Gozo. His deputy, Michael Grech, went further: he spoke of the example of Finland, which provides free transport to all.

More fun was to be had by the participants on the buoy issue (and Dr Gonzi unwittingly set them all rolling in the aisles when he mentioned it). The government has long been promising a buoy in Mgarr Harbour to enable cruise liners to visit Gozo; many press conferences later, the buoy is still not there. There is also a rumour that the ships that may be attracted to Gozo are the 200-passenger older ones.

Equally ludicrous is what is termed as the “umbrella crisis” in that restaurant owners are permitted to have umbrellas outside their outlets from April to September but not in winter.

Dr Michael Caruana, who waxed strong on this issue, also complained that he has been waiting for three years for an extension to a hotel, which has not been forthcoming.

One issue that was raised and repeated by many speakers especially by Prof. Edward Scicluna, the Labour MEP candidate, regarded a specific proviso enshrined in a separate document regarding Gozo annexed to the Accession Treaty, which promised a socio-economic study to be done by means of the 2007-2013 financing. But, when the time came, nothing was done about it. It was Dr Muscat himself who may have given the reason, or at least the official reason given, that this commitment could not be carried out as long as Malta and Gozo were net receivers of EU funds.

Another source of much mirth was the government’s promise of making Gozo an eco-island. The idea is fantastic, said John Magro of Magro Brothers, but there was nothing in the last Budget, said another speaker, to move forward in this direction. We are also waiting, Mr Magro said, for the government to tell us how we can fit in, and we are very eager to do so.

Here, perhaps, Dr Gonzi, had some logic on his side, for it was he, and only he, who mentioned the waste treatment plant in Gozo which has started to function well ahead of those in Malta. But perhaps, this was not on his audience’s wavelength.