Labour targeted Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono, with party leader Alfred Sant calling on the Prime Minister to investigate the modus operandi of the Gozo Ministry if he really wanted to show himself to be serious.

Dr Sant was speaking at a news conference on the Victoria-San Lawrenz road, on which, he said, there had already been Lm1 million overspending on just 75 per cent of the road.

He said that Mrs Debono had promised that work on the road would start in 2004 and be concluded in 2006. At the end of 2007, however, the work was still not finished on the 3.3km road, which is co-financed by the EU. By June this year 2.5km of the road, or 75 per cent of it, had been finished.

The project was expected to cost Lm1.8 million but on the 75 per cent that had been finished, Lm2.8 million had already been spent, meaning that every metre of road to San Lawrenz had cost Lm1,150. At that rate the remaining 25 per cent, or 0.8km of road left to be done would cost Lm950,000 pushing the total cost of the Victoria-San Lawrenz road to some Lm2 million more than the original estimate.

The work had been awarded to a consortium which included Road Construction Ltd. The company had over the last years been awarded 80 per cent of all roadworks in Gozo, so it was experienced and should have finished the contract in time and without incurring extra costs. Instead, the road was symptomatic of the lack of planning, extravagance, poor work and lack of time frames which characterised the projects undertaken by this government.

Labour in government would consider Gozo holistically and bring economic and social development to work together. Labour’s aim of real economic expansion of between four and six per cent each year applied also to Gozo, Dr Sant said.