It was a strange coincidence that the press conference given by Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono on her ministry’s work during the third year of government was held on the eve of the premier show of the series Game of Thrones, the filming of which had created so much controversy in the sister island last year.

The series was partly shot in Dwejra, which had been turned into a film-set with the use of tonnes of sand – an incident that had caused uproar among environmentalists who had, for weeks on end, attacked the government for the insensitive way in which the matter had been tackled.

The Dwejra incident, of course, was not mentioned during Minister Debono’s press conference last Saturday. On the other hand, the minister focused on the sterling work that has been carried out by her ministry in the past 12 months.

This was to be expected but, to be fair, it would be wrong to simply concentrate on this environmental debacle and ignore the many projects that have been undertaken by the ministry.

It is often said that Gozo has special needs, and these special needs have to be addressed. It must be said that, over the years, the Gozo ministry has managed to tackle several of the problems that afflicted the island, and it did so with a good measure of success.

For example, in the past months, a radiology department was opened at the general hospital that has meant improved services for Gozitans. This will shortly be complemented with the restructuring of a second operating theatre.

Such initiatives, and others in the health sector, will no doubt go a long way to reduce the travelling burden for Gozitans who needed to cross over to Malta to get such services on the mainland.

The biggest project to be undertaken in Gozo these last 12 months was the opening of a new boys secondary school in the heart of Victoria, worth €8 million. Facilities in other schools were also improved.

It is clear that the ministry has focused on health and education in the past year. A third pillar was the tourism industry and, in this regard, the ministry has planned or is planning ways and means how to make Gozo more attractive to visitors.

Naturally, incidents such as the Dwejra disaster that took place last year need to be avoided. Gozo is a natural gem and, as such, it must be protected.