That Gozo as a designated region qualifies for specific EU funding is the emptiest promise of all in the government's document "A better quality of life - 2006-2010 pre-budget document".
It is common knowledge that Government and Opposition are only paying lip service to Gozo's regionality. Government and Opposition representatives on the Electoral Commission agreed to dismember part of the supposedly island region of Gozo.
A lot of talk about the island region of Gozo by then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami has vanished into thin air. The necessity of a regional council of Gozo by former Prime Minister Alfred Sant during 1997-1998 has also been forgotten.
It is however imperative to add quickly that this document, the first of its kind in local legislative history, does contain many positive points, then again only if the words are translated into action.
The most relevant is the need of an exercise to brand Gozo (para 6). The document invites the University of Malta (does this imply the Gozo Centre?), MCAST, and the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), to pool their resources to achieve this aim. It emphasises the need to publicise the island as a separate destination with distinct activities.
The people of Gozo are praised as excellent entrepreneurs (para 4) and their strength should be harnessed for branding Gozo. The idea of promoting the island as an agro-cultural destination of international stature, with appropriate investment and marketing, is also a welcome suggestion. The document rightly refers to Gozo vineyards, olive production, crafts and cultural and religious activities.
Government is promising to develop and promote craft centres and, more interestingly, craft incubation centres (para 7). The Gozo village feasts which end this weekend, are second to none. A tourist, who was enjoying the pyrotechnic spectacle from the Gozo Citadel on August 15, was overheard exclaiming that he had witnessed such grandeur only in Paris on Quatorze Juillet. Yet village feasts are poorly marketed by the MTA.
Gozo should also benefit from the fast-developing cruise industry (para 8). Tourists on liners can be ferried to land on boats. This experiment has proved successful off Xlendi.
There is the need to distinguish between the aspirations on Gozo in the document and the island's real situation. The document harps on the need to upgrade the tourist infrastructure. Our roads are in a shambles. Not a single lira from EU and the Italian protocol funds has been spent in Gozo so far, in comparison with the millions spent in Malta.
The section on Gozo opens with an acknowledgement of disadvantages caused by the island's double insularity (para 2). It is acknowledged that this has an adverse effect on tourism, manufacture, and agriculture, resulting in a lesser quality of life. Yet last June, ferry fares were increased for the second time in 12 months, further limiting accessibility to the island.
This statement of aspirations is a step in the right direction - when words are translated into action.