I refer to the article by Anton Refalo entitled “Continuing to tackle unemployment in Gozo” (TMIS, 9 April). It is abundantly clear that the Dr Refalo is out of his depth when it comes to formulating a policy and a vision for employment in Gozo.

In November 2016 and December 2016, the National Statistics Office (NSO) published a suite of data about Regional Labour Supply and Regional Gross Domestic Product respectively for the region of Gozo. This augments the Gozo in Figures document published in 2015. In his opinion piece, the Minister has tried to paint a very different picture from the reality which these recent numbers clearly show with regard to employment and economic growth in Gozo. He deliberately chose to stick to just one statistic – that of unemployment. What is for sure is that Gozo has regressed in vision and outlook when it comes to sustainable forms of employment policy. This is clearly borne out in the numbers that the Minister himself quotes.

Quoting from the Regional Gross Domestic Product report for Gozo published by the NSO, and comparing it to Malta, the Gross Value Added per capita decreased from 60 per cent in 2010, to 57 per cent in 2015 (Chart 3). This indicates that the Gozitan economy has fallen further back from the wider Maltese economy by some three per cent, symptomatic of a lack of vision. The future does not seem to indicate a reversal of the trend. Rather than bridging the gap, this administration has widened the economic disparity between the two islands, which is translating into young families seeking pastures greener than Gozo, with the older generation following suit since Gozo is no longer perceived as a place of aspiration.

Quoting from table 4.5 of the Gozo in Figures document, the average national wage had been steadily increasing from 2010 to 2014, with the exception of Gozo. The average wage in Gozo had shown steady increases from 2010 to 2013; averaging +3.5 per cent year on year. A decrease in both absolute (-€223) and relative terms (-2 per cent) has been registered from 2013 to 2014, a first for the Gozitan regional economy, and a negative certificate for the government

The Minister implies that employment in Gozo has been fuelled by the private sector. This is a complete fallacy. The regional labour supply statistics (chart 2) published by the NSO in November 2016 clearly show an increase in private sector employment, accompanied by a parallel decrease in public sector employment between 2010 and 2013. On the contrary, public sector employment, namely government jobs for the boys, increased by three per cent between 2013 and 2015. Moreover, when compared to Malta, the ratio of public to private sector employment is approximately 1:3, whereas in Gozo it stands pretty much at 1:1. This shows that the private sector in Gozo under this administration has been crippled by lack of vision for the island. Indeed, many business leaders/employers in Gozo are unhappy with the Ministry for Gozo that has siphoned off workers, offering worse conditions, many times below minimum wage, under the pretence of working schemes, enticing workers with the false promise that their jobs are secure for life. Sustainable good quality jobs are hard to come by in Gozo these days. This is due to a lack of investment and a strategically well thought set of incentives. This lack is hampering the prosperity diffusion that the Minister is trying to have us believe exists. Strategy and planning within the Ministry for Gozo have been absorbed in a partisan private secretariat, ensuring that judgements are biased, skewed and many times lacking the right technical weight such decision-making requires.

One can burst the bubble of Jobs for Gozitans so much touted in Gozo prior to the 2013 election. The regional labour supply survey document makes some grim reading for Gozo, as it clearly shows that this administration's myopia has meant that the number of people commuting to Malta for work has actually increased in both absolute and relative terms. From the 16 per cent in 2010, it is now 18 per cent, translating into some 600 more commuters in real terms. No wonder more young families are giving up on Gozo.

Refalo wants us to believe that Gozo is charging full speed ahead. That might be true for his selected few. This string of economic indicators is a loud wake-up call that contradicts any notion that Gozo is a better place to live in than it was four years ago. Add the insult of these indicators to the injury of a roll call of failed projects and/or white elephants that have yet to see the light of day. These include a second fibre optic cable that is not complete, a fast ferry service that never was, a less-connected island with no dedicated merchant trips to Sa Maison, 100 RS2 jobs that are a complete chimera, and a Barts medical school that was supposed to counter balance what was a raw deal for the health service in Gozo. These are but a few of the many statements spewed out by the Ministry for Gozo, as full of hot air as they are empty of substance.The gap between the reality facing the island of Gozo and the fairy tales that the Minister cooks up from time to time, is steadily growing wider. It is no wonder that he tries to make up in boastful bluster what he lacks in delivery and results.

 

Dr Said is PN spokesperson for Gozo