Another Gozitan invitation to Gonzi

The proposals mentioned by Lawrence Gonzi during his recent meeting with the Gozo regional sub-committee of MCESD are welcome and look very promising. But before he launches any initiatives about Gozo, we need first to bring the place up to scratch and, therefore, he can do worse than come and have a look around.

This is more pertinent where the tourism sector is involved. He needs to be aware that he is being let down by people in responsible positions elected even under his own party's banner.

I live in Marsalforn during the summer and so will limit my comments to this locality. It's the main resort in Gozo, attracting the most tourists, both local and foreign, and yet I can assure him that it's a dump and in some areas quite dangerous.

Many have written on the subject and made innumerable complaints direct to the council, Żebbuġ, and yet no one has done anything about anything. For example, the council has ignored reports which have even been highlighted on a Facebook page for at least 10 months - that there are a number of rusting nails protruding three or four centimetres out of a public children's playhouse. One would think that they would care about something like this, but still the nails remain to this day, sticking out awaiting an innocent child to cut his/her face as they brush past.

This is just a small, though important, instance. The result of such apathy is that embellishments done in the early 1990s costing thousands of euros have been left to fall to bits. A prime example is the Qbajjar Promenade of which I have written in the past to no avail and which is now a monument to the ineptitude and irresponsibility of the same Żebbuġ local council in whose jurisdiction it unfortunately falls.

It was also this same council which about 15 months ago embarked on the brilliant idea of narrowing the main road on Marsalforn beach front without any permits whatsoever, only to be stopped in its tracks when half the work was already done. This same council again, in all its wisdom, let loose a bulldozer on to the main beach of Marsalforn on a weekend morning (as happened only last Saturday) on a supposed cleaning job, the actual result being the gradual erosion of the whole beach as happened in Qbajjar. Yet again, this council's answer to reports of unlit lamp posts is to shear off two of the three light bulbs on each pole. True! And it goes on and on.

And yet it seems nobody notices and people with responsibility have become immune to complaints. There are a lot of fine sounding words and proposals flying around but very little action. Projects are taken on half heartedly and left unmaintained and totally unkempt, showing tiredness in a very short time. This has disheartened us and made us sceptics and increasingly wary of promises.

For if even a small but important locality like Marsalforn is left to decay to such a state and a simple promenade cannot be maintained, how is one to start getting excited with all those projects outlined in the plans.

Ultimately the active participation of the Gozitan community is essential for any initiative to make a real impact.

But this support will not be forthcoming if the apparent current sense of apathy and inertia from all those responsible prevails.

So please Dr Gonzi, you owe it to us to make a phone call or two and follow up on your plans and projects. Otherwise can you blame us for starting to believe that the energy of those promising years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when projects were undertaken with such conviction and on so small a budget, is petering out into just spin?