Governing through sustainability

The government had made a conscious choice to govern Malta by adopting the concept of economic, social and environmental sustainability, Fredrick Azzopardi (PN) said yesterday.

Speaking during the debate on the Sustainable Development Bill, Mr Azzopardi said Gozo was an important touristic and natural resource which had to be dealt with separately and viewed differently from Malta.

The government was striving to reach the goals set out in eco-Gozo by 2020. He said less pressure should be made on the natural environment and plans should be put into place to have a long term structure to make Gozo dependent on renewable energy. There was also a great need to reduce energy consumption.

The Gozitan natural environment and other surroundings should be protected. There was already work which was done on the Citadella and Ggantija, but more protection in other areas was needed. Gozo should also be promoted as a place of agro-tourism and eco-tourism which would increase the island’s touristic potentiality.

Mr Azzopardi said he believed goals envisaged in Eco Gozo project could become a reality and if all Gozitan citizens worked together, this would result in an increase in the island’s sustainability.

Sustainable development was also the focal point in other sectors. The change in the tax regime was part of the sustainable economic vision needed to stimulate jobs and opportunities. Even farmers and fisherman were benefitting from EU assistance and this was possible because government acknowledged that farming and fishing were important sectors for the sustainability of the country.

Mr Azzopardi said the policy was based on the human resource which showed the government had trust in society. It did not interfere in self-regulating markets but had a hand in tourism and sought to encourage Maltese investments in the latter sector as much as possible. Mr Azzopardi said that Air Malta was an important asset for the country which should be safeguarded.