Franco Mercieca
An island that is forgotten
As a Gozitan, I must say that the 2012 Budget has been quite disappointing for me. It essentially lacked proper direction, especially when it comes to the generation of new working opportunities. Even more worrying, it offered no hope for the future.
A very important step in reaching a solution is to accept that one indeed has a problem. However, even though the government now seems to have accepted the fact that there is a serious lack of jobs, very little has been proposed to stimulate the employment market in Gozo.
No incentive has been proposed to attract knowledge-based firms or other high value added jobs. The 60 per cent tax credit for Gozitan SMEs and the 50 per cent wage funding for the first year under the employment aid scheme, compared to 40 per cent and 25 per cent respectively in Malta, have helped but definitely not been enough to stop the continuous haemorrhage of our younger generations to seek employment in Malta or overseas.
Officially, over 1,000 Gozitans had to emigrate over the last three years. This fact has saved the blushes for this Administration and hid the employment reality or lack of it.
What hurts me most as a Gozitan is the lethargy this Administration has shown in pushing the case for Gozo to have a special regional status recognition.
The EU pre-accession false promise combined with the infamous declaration 36 meant that the Commission never got the mandate from the government to issue a report on the Gozitan economic and social situation prior to the negotiations on the EU budget for 2007-2013. We now seem to be experiencing a déjà vu as the plans for the EU Budget 2014-2020 are looming and no such reports are in the pipeline either.
It is no secret that if the gross domestic product for Malta in 2010 was at 83 per cent of the EU average, that of Gozo is hovering at about 57 per cent and, therefore, stresses the need for Gozo to be given special attention.
With Malta losing the objective one status and being placed in transition, this would have serious implications on the EU funds available for Gozo.
Given the serious lack of commitment towards Gozo over the last decade and unheeded frequent calls to set up a statistics office in Gozo, time may be running out to issue an official professional report on the state of affairs of our little island and present a strong case to the European Commission in order to consider our regional status in the next budgetary framework. Honestly, I expected at least a mention on this issue in the Budget speech.
However, a mention we did get on the issue of a permanent link between Malta and Gozo. But only that. This was received with acclamation by the Gozo Business Chamber, the rationale of which escapes me.
As a keen promoter of the permanent link, which, in my opinion, would be a long-term measure to rehabilitate Gozo, I was perplexed by the apparent lack of budgeting for the feasibility studies.
Have the finalised pre-feasibility studies been conveniently shelved till after the Budget to avoid any talk on the next step? Are the sour experiences of big projects like SmartCity or White Rocks denting the forward gear of this Administration?
This lack of inertia when it comes to Gozo affairs is striking. The Nationalist Party’s colonial approach vis-a-vis Gozo is worrying.
But it seems that we still have Eco-Gozo to rejoice about. With several millions of euros from previous budgets still not used, it was obvious that fewer euros will be budgeted for this year, specifically on Eco-Gozo.
As a Gozitan fully conversant with the highly commendable aim of reducing the water and carbon footprint, I was very disappointed to notice that year after year we do not get any clear picture of specific projects compatible with the Eco-Gozo concept or with sustainable growth in Gozo.
We all get the impression that the idea of Eco-Gozo is the embellishment of roundabouts and main roads, the cleaning of valleys and the planting of more trees. Then, occasionally, we hear through the grapevine of other small projects such as the one of the occupational therapy department at the Gozo General Hospital or repairing the ceiling at the sports complex being sponsored by the Eco-Gozo fund.
Such initiatives are obviously commendable but carry no sense to be part of Eco-Gozo. At this rate, the Eco-Gozo concept, which was a vote catcher before the 2008 election as vision 2015 and soon after altered to vision 2020, would be better marketed as 2050 vision if we are lucky! The term Eco-Gozo has become an utter joke.
This nonchalance by the central government is having a high cost on the economy and on the social fabric of our gem of an island. A status quo for Gozo spells bad news. We definitely deserve better.
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David Borg
Dec 1st 2011, 23:21
Very Well said. Eco-Gozo is the joke of the century. They have just distributed a nonesense water tap fitting which even does not fit and does not make sense. That is Eco Gozo ??? No ideas and no vision. The storm of last Tuesday confirmed what rubbish we had around in the streets, and valleys. What a shame on Eco-Gozo to watch Marsalforn, Ramla and Xlendi beaches full of rubbish and other material onto the sea bed. That is the clean up of Eco-Gozo ???? We had to wait for this storm to have a clean up from the very dirty roads and rubbish blocked valleys.
John Azzopoardi
Dec 1st 2011, 11:35
Gozitans needs to wake up and stop voting people who promise the world and do nothing for them. I do believe that if Chris was the Minister for Gozo more would be done. The time has come for Giovanna to move on. We need young energy and innovation to run gozo. Period.
J Farrugia
Dec 1st 2011, 11:26
Excellent article, now Gozitans use your vote wisely.
Franco Farrugia
Dec 1st 2011, 10:34
But what is this that we want Gozitan youngsters and the upcoming generation to be in a position to seek and find job opportunities in Gozo itself? Which small island in the world can do this? Are we out of our minds? We should be thankful that the Malta-miracle is still taking place ... that we as a small island-nation are managing to keep our heads above the water-line. Do we expect every Gozitan worker to stay in Gozo forever and work there? This is madness!
And the permanent link with Gozo: now THAT would indeed make eco-Gozo 'an utter joke'. We have a few businessmen in Gozo who think that they want to share in the pie that their Maltese counterparts are 'enjoying'. No, it would not rehabilitate Gozo - it would KILL Gozo, forever. More madness if this permanent link with Gozo had to become even a wave of fanatasy of any government!
In conclusion, I think that Mercieca has the wrong idea about what really constitutes 'eco-Gozo'! Certainly NOT a permanent link with that still-beautiful island. Gozo Channel will do but the service it provides needs fine-tuning to respect the needs of the Gozitan residents.
Josephine Muscat
Nov 30th 2011, 22:21
Very well said Mr Mercieca - Gozo definitely needs people like you to speak up its needs. Keep it up.
John Attard
Nov 30th 2011, 22:13
Words well placed........Excellent......Gozo needs a revamp in many more ways then one! Were counting the days!
Mr leo attard
Nov 30th 2011, 19:51
I think that the article is not covering all the facts -- the Ministry is doing a lot to push Gozo into the 21 century. In fact, today I received this single aerator which I installed in my a** to regulate my gas emissions ... Oh, sorry, wife just informed me it's to be placed onto a faucet ... sorry, excellent article
Bill Hopkinson
Nov 30th 2011, 13:43
Excellent article. Allow me to add to the Eco Gozo dream. Biodiesel is still NOT available on Gozo despite having been widely available on Malta for a number of years now. One would have thought this to be a BASIC essential to the green concept. Having mentioned this error to the Gozo Ministry some two years ago, alas still no sign of it being made available here.
John A. Gauci
Nov 30th 2011, 12:37
How long have you been away from Gozo Mr. Frank Mercieca????
Marcel Mejlaq Vella
Nov 30th 2011, 20:34
You should not have asked Dr Franco Mercieca how long has he been away from Gozo. Rather you should have asked yourself if you have ever been to Gozo because what Dr Mercieca has stated above is 100% true.
Josephine Muscat
Nov 30th 2011, 22:18
You better ask your question to yourself - Mr Mercieca is a gozitan himself who has always lived in gozo and still is. He is talking from first hand experience - maybe you dont know where is Gozo??
Mr ALBERT LEONE GANADO
Nov 30th 2011, 11:17
As a person who has had a love affair with the island of Gozo for the past 25 years I fully agree with FM that to a certain extent Gozo has been left economically depressed and the situation has got worse as the industrial estates for global economic realities have been virtually run down.
The recent bus service which now covers the whole of Gozo with decent frequency of service is having a good effect as I am now see a steady stream of individual tourists roving about towns and villages and injecting some new business at lunchtime in the catering est
ablishments
Ten properly funded suggestions and comments I would like to make make are:
(i) Gozo needs its own tourist authority to market Gozo as a destination in its own right rather than a place to visit on a day trip.
(ii) Gozo needs its own separate business development council with its own budget to support commercial and industry initiatives.
(iii) Gozo has so much artistic and artisanal talent and skills which have to be better marketed and promoted. I know of many small towns in Sweden and Canada who survive by selling their unique artistic products and through arts and crafts promotion
(iv) Provided there is guaranteed transport service Gozo could become an important academic ,business and research centre and meeting place in the style of Erice in Sicily
(v) The University centre in Gozo should be upgraded to the level of a subsidiary campus and offer specialized courses in IT,business and the Arts to local and foreign students. Gozo boasts the second largest number of students who enter our University and it is a pity that there is hardly any work for them in gozo once they graduate
(vi) The Gozo campus should be linked to a new high-tech science park and innovative centre in the now half empty Xewkija estate
(vii)More English Language schools should be promoted . Gozo is ideal for this type of summer educational establishments.
(vii) Rather than hounding those who survive by renting farmhouses this and other forms of agro-tourism should be encouraged and a ten year tax and other payments holiday should be offered.
(vii) A small all weather boat is all that is required to ensure that tourists can make it to the airport in all types of weather. Myself and others have balked at organizing conferences in Gozo purely for this reason. Also the armed forces should be provided with a larger capacity helicopter for their patrol duties to be diverted to ferrying passengers in abnormal sea conditions.
(viii)A cruise liner jetty in Gozo should be a top priority rather than the silly unusable buoy in Xlendi. Like many other small islands across the world Gozo has all the features and a bit more need to become an established cruise ship port of call.
(ix) More must be done to secure European development funds for Gozo. Now that after 2014 Malta might lose part of its cohesion funding it is essential that Gozo not only loses funds but that a case is made to divert most of this type of EU funding to Gozo.
(ix) Finally let us make an effort to imprint into the European people the special fascinating , magical and mythical character of this island and make it a byword for beauty experience to renovate body and soul.
maria grech ganado
Nov 30th 2011, 17:01
I fully agree with Albert Leone Ganado. I remember a time when Gozo was considered an island far behind Malta in its development. It is now a place Malta should emulate, and should be given the kind of financial support and backing it deserves because it knows how to employ it, unlike many bureaucrats on the larger island who just squander our taxes.
Franco Farrugia
Dec 2nd 2011, 00:01
Once again, the big mistake is made to expect Gozitans to remain in Gozo for all their lives. Today, you don't even have an all-life job, let alone one in Gozo! Let's move on! Let's develop further! Even the Maltese are moving on. Nationals move on from one country to another in search of better jobs and the Gozitans are expected to find job opportunities in Gozo. How healthy is that?
John Azzopoardi
Nov 30th 2011, 10:51
Eco Gozo is a joke. Gozo is run by just a few number of property barons who have destroyed the landscape of Gozo as well as some other haphazard supposedly cement or construction factories that dot our country side. I have not seen anything new coming to gozo in the past 10 years. Main roads promised in the 60's still not surfaced. ONe good example is Ramla Road where hundred of thousands of maltese and gozitans as well as tourist visit and the road is a third world country road. This is just one of many. Chris or Giovanna, are you reading or listening.
Christian Sciberras
Nov 30th 2011, 09:50
"The term Eco-Gozo has become an utter joke."
Seconded.
You can't repair what has not been broken. You think ecologically when you see your methods harming nature, not when there is nothing at all.
In computing, that is called micro-optimization, and as many will testify, it is the first step to a disastrous project.