Without the physical detachment from the main island, Gozo will not be the same. The short distance that separates the two islands gives Gozo its lure and attractiveness. The short stretch of sea gives Gozo its peculiar characteristics which we all love. But this comes with a price. The short physical distance between Malta and Gozo makes the life of ordinary Gozitans more difficult. It makes business in Gozo much more challenging. It limits opportunities.

Proof of this is the hundreds of Gozitans that have to travel every day to Malta to earn a living. Hundreds more settle temporary on the main island in order to further their studies. This means a massive brain drain and further limits the opportunities for various sectors of the economy.

It is no wonder that Gozo’s contribution to national Gross Domestic Product stands at just 5 %. Equally more worrying is the fact that the rate of economic growth in Gozo has constantly been below that registered in Malta.

Sectors of the economy that traditionally has provided employment in Gozo are shrinking fast. Manufacturing and Construction continues to decline in Gozo. Even sectors which are doing well in Malta such as financial and insurance activities, and real estate activities are struggling in Gozo. Without the employment provided by the State, the situation will be much worse.

This situation created a mentality of dependence on the State. A much higher percentage of people living in Gozo prefer to work for the public sector compared to Malta. The sense of entrepreneurship is well developed but it is wrongly channelled.

Instead of tackling this problem, the present administration thrived on this insecurity. The last decade show an increased sense of despondency. Young people are looking outside Gozo for their future.

While the present situation is far from ideal, solutions do exist. One of them is to improve the transport between the islands. A modern and reliable transport is essential in creating an environment that contributes in to attract new investments in Gozo that can create new employment and elevate the quality of living in Gozo.

Accessibility to Gozo is not limited to sea transport. The roads leading to and from Gozo, together with the sea terminals, are just as important. During the summer, one could witness at first hand the big issues still prevailing in terms of accessibility. Those travelling to Gozo had to face the ridiculous situation where the main roads leading to Gozo were either closed by the local authorities or else undergoing extensive reconstruction.

The situation even prompted the Gozo Tourism Association to declare it “is very much concerned that these works created and are creating a lot of inconvenience not only to all Gozitans, but to the visitors both foreign and locals to the Island. These concerns also stems from the fact that the Gozitan businesses both touristic and retail are reporting loss of business due to these construction works”.

The same association continued, stating that “The traffic management and traffic flow on these roads left much to be desired” and that “appealed to all concerned to keep in mind that the tourism industry on Gozo cannot afford to have a chaotic road network on this small island”. The answer of the Ministry for Gozo to these concerns was a higher engagement in publicity funded by public money.

Back to the issue of accessibility between the two islands. Nowadays, there are attempts to distract public opinion by making reference to grand scale infrastructural projects. However, let not forget the fundamentals. In the late 1980s, a hovercraft service was introduced making the crossing from Gozo to Sa Maison in 30 minutes. In the 1990s an air link was established which was operational for the best part of a decade. These services, nowadays, are no longer available.

These bottlenecks increase costs. It is no wonder that the same GTA said that “domestic holiday break on Gozo is being tainted as a holiday becoming increasingly more expensive as time goes by”. Obviously the exuberantly high utility bills did everything but help to restraint costs.

Against this background, a new labour government promise to improve accessibility. But not only. Accessibility is just part of the solution. The long term objective will be to create the right environment for business to flourish and to create sustainability employment.

What needs to be done is clear to everybody. Less bureaucratic red-tape, a more motivated and flexible public administration which does not squander public money and is there to serve the ordinary citizen as well as the business which is putting this money into the economy. We promise to work with everyone as we are already too small to waste precious human resources.

Dr Anton Refalo is Labour spokesman for Gozo