The Gozo Ministry has turned into a glorified local council with no real powers, Shadow Minister for Gozo Chris Said remarked in Parliament yesterday. 

The Ministry has no real power apart from embellishing a few piazzas and tarmacking some roads, Dr Said insisted.

Gozo has seen a €10.2 million reduction in capital expenditure when compared to the previous year, he said.

Drastic need for roads to be rebuilt

There is a drastic need for the total rebuilding of a number of roads in Gozo, yet the government has only allocated a budget of €1.6 million for this purpose, down from the €3.6 million allocated during the Labour government’s first year in power, he said.

Dr Said pointed out that Gozo Minister Anton Refalo had expressed his reservations about an underwater tunnel to Gozo when it was proposed by a Nationalist government.

He has now been silenced by “higher powers,” Dr Said quipped.

Government wasted three years on tunnel issue

He hit out at the government for having wasted three years on the matter, and questioned what has become of the feasibility study carried out by a blacklisted Chinese company on a bridge linking Gozo to Malta.

He expressed his hope that the underground tunnel is not a “gimmick.”

“I hope the government will undertake all the necessary studies in a serious and transparent manner. The Opposition will help you and offer you all its backing.”

What happened to all the government’s proposals?

He questioned what has become of a number of proposals by the government included in the 2015 budget.

Nothing has become of the proposed casino, the fast-ferry service, the cruise liner terminal and the air strip.

Last year’s budget proposals for Gozo were just “castles in the sky,” he said.

“This year’s budget continues to insult Gozitans. Some of the projects that were supposed to have been done this year have been recycled.”

“Maybe the government has noticed it is better to promise less, which means that you have to do less,” Dr Said said on the dearth of proposals for Gozo in this year’s budget. 

Privatisation of hospital

On the privatisation of the Gozo General hospital, Dr Said questioned who is going refund the EU funds granted to the Gozo Ministry for projects carried out at the hospital.

He asked the government to reassure workers at the hospital that there take-home pay will not be affected. 

Giovanna Debono thanks people for their support

Former Nationalist MP Giovanna Debono – now an independent representative – started off her address by thanking everyone who has expressed solidarity with her and her family, in the light of the corruption charges being faced by her husband Anthony Debono.

Mrs Debono said that very few of the measures announced in last year’s budget have actually been implemented.

Under Nationalist government a lot of EU funds were allocated to Gozo and a number of infrastructural projects were undertaken, she said.

There is no point in this government acting as if only now Gozo is being given its due importance, as everyone knows how many projects were completed by the Nationalist government. 

Of the 80 pages in the budget speech, only two pages are dedicated to Gozo, she said.