Lm 500,000-Lm750,000 a year in interest. Dr Sant insisted that it would have been much better if the government invested a portion of what was spent on the Brussels property on a new helicopter for Gozo-Malta service.

There is dire need to support tourism in Gozo in order for the island’s youth to be given the needed opportunities, he said. Tourism in Gozo can be brought back to life, if the necessary investment is made, he added.

The feedback from the sector is negative and hotels are being shut down and converted into luxury apartments or old people’s homes. He insisted that what Gozo needs is the creation of new job opportunities. The government should make up its mind regarding the golf course project in Gozo and go ahead with it, he added.

Under the present administration it is only the “friends of friends, cousins and sons of certain people” that are benefiting, he said, adding that the Labour party did not agree with this system and instead strongly believed that public funds should be invested for the common good.

Concluding, Dr Sant said that the Labour party could offer the solution because it believed in the future of the Gozitan people and not only in that of the friends of friends.