Lm2 million in EU funds for Gozo next year

Minister Giovanna Debono said that Gozo is benefiting from an approved expenditure in the 2004 Budget, that is three times that spent in 1997 - the Labour Party's full year in government. She explained that for 2004, Gozo will benefit from EU funds consisting of Lm1,671,000 in pre-accession funds, Lm271,000 in post-accession funds acquired under the Single Programming Document and Lm101,000 in post-accession Cohesion Funds.

"This means that in total, for this year alone, the island will be making use of more than Lm2 million, voted directly to Gozo from EU funds. This apart from the funds allocated to Malta, of which Gozo will have its indirect share," she said.

Minister Debono explained that Gozo has many projects in the pipeline, made possible by EU funds, national funds and the fifth Italian protocol. Gozo will benefit indirectly from the Italian protocol with regard to funds allocated to projects/initiatives on a national basis and directly in terms of projects related to roads and agriculture.

"The ministry is seeking to create an environment to enhance job opportunities through the setting up of an incubation centre for artisans, a complex for small enterprises and the increase in government and parastatal back-office work brought over from Malta to Gozo," she said. She added that the ministry is seeking to enhance Gozo's tourism package through the planned construction of a tourism studies training complex, a decompression chamber for the diving industry, the creation of artificial dive sites, a better road network, cleaner areas through the Waste Water Treatment Plant, cleaner air through the elimination of the Qortin landfill and other initiatives.

Joe Muscat, general secretary of the Gozo Tourism Authority (GTA), said that VAT collected from tourist establishments in Malta will be used for the embellishment of tourist areas. GTA asked whether the same procedure will be carried out in Gozo.

On the other hand Sannat mayor Carmel Camilleri said the 2004 budget will have a negative effect on the local council, since the Government allocation had been reduced by Lm3,465 and that the three per cent increase in VAT will raise the costs of services provided by the local council. This will cause a decrease in funds which could be used for projects essential to the village, he said. He said the waste management programme, although beneficial to the locality, would limit the council's finances even further.

Rabat mayor, Vivienne Galea Pace believes that the 2004 budget showed that the government was aware of the country's deficit which has to be reduced to at least three per cent of GDP by 2006. She said that while increasing revenue, various steps were taken to control expenditure, protecting those who are most in need.

For the first time the budget was discussed beforehand with various social partners during a weekend break in Gozo, thus enabling discussions on every sector of the Maltese Islands to take place. The government "took a courageous decision to tackle the deficit as a number one priority within vision for Malta's future," she said.