Gozitans will be lured to quit jobs - Sant

Opposition leader Alfred Sant yesterday warned that the government would soon start offering Gozitan workers monetary schemes to encourage them to quit their job, the same way it had done with the shipyard workers.

Speaking at a district meeting in Victoria, Dr Sant painted a bleak picture of the economic situation in Gozo, saying the unemployment rate in the island would shoot up unless the government provided assistance.

The country needs clear solutions and not a system whereby workers are transformed into pensioners, the Labour leader said.

He described the way Gozitan companies were closing down and shedding workers as "shameful".

Gozitan investors and businessmen, who had been in cahoots with the government during the referendum and election campaigns, were now saying their island was facing a crisis, he said.

Turning to Gozo Channel, Dr Sant criticised the design of the new ferries whose contract, he added, was given three days before the 1996 election.

To try and absolve itself from any blame, and to give the impression that it was trying to rectify the situation, the government was now turning to workers and consumers and reduced the number of trips between the two islands.

Referring to the Public Broadcasting Services, Dr Sant said that while the government was complaining about excessive manning, the station was still farming out its best work to external contractors like Where's Everybody?

On the MLP's internal debate about EU membership, Dr Sant said that the earlier the issue is settled the better. He reiterated that the proposal of the party's executive and parliamentary group - to accept the will of the majority in favour of EU membership - was the best option.

However, he warned that should membership spell doom for the country then nobody could stop the people from pulling Malta out of the EU.