Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant said that if he gained the people’s confidence in the European elections he will continue to be Gozo’s voice in Europe, and ensure that funds and other aid from the 2020-2027 European budget be used to assist in new Gozitan projects in tourism, manufacturing, and agriculture.
Alfred Sant said that Gozo has to wisely build on past successes so more and more Gozitans feel that, from Gozo, they successfully develop their working life, careers and projects.
“The talents and initiatives we have in Gozo are impressive. These talents appear in the fields of finance, manufacturing, tourism, construction, art, and culture,” Alfred Sant said when addressing a political conference at the Nadur Labour Center with the theme “CONFIDENCE IN GOZO – FOR A SOCIAL EUROPE”.
Alfred Sant said that in recent weeks he saw to visiting these Gozitan successes.
“Gozo suffers from major drawbacks due to its double insularity. But perhaps we talk too much about how these drawbacks are hindering Gozo projects. And we do not talk enough about how the island also has success stories.”
Sant said that, in the past five years, he continued to regularly visit Gozo to understand the challenges and aspirations of different sectors of Gozitan society.
“During the past days I met Gozitan tourism operators,” Alfred Sant maintained. “I emphasised that diving around the island is an invaluable resource that we need to care for as much as Gozo’s archaeological and architectural heritage. I spoke with villagers, with farmers, with owners of furniture factories and tomato factories, with producers of local crafts. I met representatives of the Gozitan University Students, and could admire from up close the academic ability of Gozitan youth who deserve every support and backing.”
Sant said that we must continue to learn from the successes of Gozitans, and convey a message of optimism while seeing how best we can serve the momentum of new projects. In this, funds and other aid from Europe can be very useful if they were chosen and used with caution.