Unemployment plagues Gozo and the south

Gozo had the highest regional jobless rate in May, eclipsing the south, as unemployment increased by more than 1,200 overall.

According to statistics presented in Parliament by Social Policy Minister John Dalli, the number of registered unemployed stood at 7,266 in May, up by 21 per cent over the same month a year earlier. The figures were broken down by locality.

An analysis by The Times of the jobless figures showed that, when compared to the respective population of the individual towns, Cospicua and Żebbuġ in Gozo came top of the league. In both localities, the number of registered unemployed stood at 4.7 per cent of their respective populations.

The three cities of Cottonera, Kalkara, Xgħajra, Valletta, Floriana and the Gozitan villages of Munxar and Nadur rounded up the top 10 localities with the highest unemployment figures.

The number of jobless was much less pronounced in the more affluent north and west of Malta. In fact, almost all the 10 localities with the lowest unemployment were towns and villages in the north of the island.

The village of Għasri was the only Gozitan locality to make the top 10 while none of the villages in the south made the low unemployment grade.

A regional analysis showed the number of registered unemployed in Gozo amounted to 2.4 per cent of the island's population. This eclipsed the south and south-east region of Malta where unemployment stood at 2.3 per cent.

In complete contrast, unemployment in the northern and western region of Malta stood at 1.3 per cent.

The statistics offered a worrying scenario for politicians from the worst affected areas.

Labour MP Chris Agius, who comes from Cospicua, pointed his finger at the "lack of education" among young people in the Cottonera area as among the causes for the seemingly persistently high unemployment in the area.

On the other hand, Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said, who comes from Nadur, pointed his finger at the lack of new job opportunities in Gozo, after the manufacturing sector in the island took a hammering in the past years.

He said unemployment rates in Gozo were among the lowest seven years ago.

Dr Said added that while restructuring in Malta may have had less of an impact because the old jobs were replaced, Gozo experienced fewer replacement opportunities.

"Time has shown us it is difficult to have a strong manufacturing base in Gozo despite the government offering attractive packages to investors," he said.

The problems were further compounded because seasonality had a bigger effect on the tourism sector in Gozo.

The government was responding to market realities by identifying niche areas to develop and diversify the Gozitan economy.

Dr Said said: "The government has shifted some of its own back office work to Gozo even to act as a model employer for the private sector. Diving, agri-tourism and financial services are three niche areas we intend developing further."

However, Dr Said acknowledged there would always be a problem for unskilled people to find a job because the likelihood of earning a low wage did not even make it attractive for them to find a job in Malta, given the additional travel costs. "We have to ensure new job opportunities in Gozo also cater for these people," he said.

Low skilled workers were also cause for concern for Mr Agius.

"Too many children from Cottonera are leaving school without having obtained the right skills or the right knowledge to continue studying, which would enable them to find better jobs," Mr Agius said.

He said the country was experiencing a lack of lower-skilled jobs, which made it more difficult for those without education to find employment. "Before, we had the textile industry that provided employment for a lot of people in the south but these have almost vanished," he said.

The job market had become "very insecure" and in such a situation it was the lower skilled that felt the brunt, the Labour MP added.

He acknowledged that the higher number of students from Cottonera who passed their Junior Lyceum exam was a positive development this year. However, he questioned why most of the sixth grade students opted not to sit for the exam in the first place.

"The educational system needs to reach every student so that at the end of primary school every student would feel obliged to sit for the exam. It is only then that we can start seeing an improvement even in the job prospects of people from the south," Mr Agius said.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com