A few days ago, the Gozo Ministry made a statement saying that those who want to oppose the relocation of the Gozo Courts from the Cittadella to the Pjazza l-Assedju 1551 in Victoria should discuss this only at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

My family and I are some of the many opposing this proposal by the government since this open space in Victoria had never been planned for any type of building and we invested in our property since the land has been passed from the Church to the Joint Office with the aim of remaining an open space. No wonder the Church also remains silent on such issues. Is the Gozo Curia also going to benefit financially if this open space is turned into a building site?

Why is the ministry saying that no one should express a point of view in public about a proposed building once it has been submitted to MEPA? In this case the ministry is defending this mega development to destroy Pjazza l-Assedju. In other instances, the ministry stood silent as in the case of the Ramla villas and Ta’ Cenc. Is this a way of having two measures? I voted for my country to join the EU in order for myself and my children to start living in a truly democratic country. But the democratic process, according to the Gozo Ministry, should be reduced to the largely ineffective exercise of complaining before MEPA. Who is trusting MEPA in these days and times, if I may ask? There are other alternative sites where to build the law courts without destroying further open spaces in Gozo. The best, in my opinion, is to find an already unused building and convert it to the exigencies of today and tomorrow. One of the proposals of Alternattiva Demokratika is to upgrade the ex-MMU huge derelict premises just outside Victoria.

These premises had been neglected for years. Now that in this particular case the Gozo Ministry can ‘talk’ outside the MEPA Offices, what is its objection to relocate the law courts to an already built and unused premises?

Joe Borg

Victoria