Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Harry Vassallo and members of the AD Gozo Regional Committee, told a news conference in Victoria that the Gozo Ministry needed constant prodding to provide the public with support needed for cultural activities.

“The collapse of part of a wall of the medieval chapel of Santa Cecilia near the heliport in Gozo had been an accident waiting to happen. The ministry had resisted the pressure to do something about it for many years, until eventually the inevitable occurred,” Dr Vassallo said.

Dr Vassallo said that culture was also a question of fostering traditions and popular artistic creations. “The various groups who invest time, energy and a great deal of money to build carnival floats, do not only provide mass entertainment, but are the mainstay of an annual event of cultural and economic significance.”

Speaking to the carnival groups from Victoria and Xaghra, he said it was clear that the necessary government support was altogether lacking. “It is perfectly reasonable for such groups to be allowed to build their floats in available government premises, such as vacant factories, or sheltered in the Public Works compound in Xewkija at least during the Carnival period.”

Dr Vassallo said the absence of this minimal support was tantamount to deliberate discouragement, more than customary neglect. “This discouragement has already resulted in a number of village groups not taking part in the Gozo Carnival.”

Dr Vassallo advised all participating groups to work together, and to safeguard their craft and tradition as well as to set themselves long term goals such as the setting up of a Carnival Museum which would become another attraction for visitors to Gozo, as well as a source of revenue for the Carnival. “A vote for Alternattiva Demokratika means that AD in a coalition government will join forces to secure these assets for our common good,” Dr Vassallo said.