About 31,000 people live in Gozo: 25,000 are Gozitans and about 6,000 others have a property there and are in possession of an ID card with a Gozo address. In the last election, there were 28,000 eligible voters in Gozo. This means there are only 3,000 people in Gozo who are under 18.

One must also bear in mind that the 3-4,000 youngsters working or studying in Malta are, in their majority, of a courting age and most of them remain in Malta when they marry. It is not unusual for their parents to move to the mainland too.

In short, Gozo is becoming an open old people’s home. It is a sort of open retirement island.

Previous governments performed miracles and made big strides ahead in Malta but Gozo was overlooked.

Prominent Gozitan politicians used to wrongfully say there was no need for any action because the elders were looked after by their extended families. But extended families, like those that existed till the 1960/70s, are no more. Nowadays it is everybody for himself.

Not even data is available even though a statistics department was promised. This issue is not being adequately addressed.

Also demanding attention is hospital care.

The first resemblance of a hospital was built by the Knights of St John.

The British colonial government had commissioned a certain Michael Cachia, from Żejtun, to build a hospital in Gozo, in St Francis Square.

This consisted of two large halls, one for males and the other for females and the atmosphere was reminiscent of the Dickens era.

The present Gozo hospital was opened in 1975 and served its purpose although very few specialists were in attendance there and the lack of specialists visiting the general hospital persists to this very day. But it seems things are about to change.

Gozo is becoming an open old people’s home

All in all, as a general hospital it is meeting the needs of the public and is manned by a most efficient staff. However, the male and female wards are totally inadequate to cater for patients. Overcrowding is the norm and not the exception. Immediate action must be taken.

The old people’s quarters looks good and is located in a beautiful area but the problems there are manifold.

Often families cannot cope with handling elderly relatives 24 hours a day and, therefore, a round-the-clock hospitalisation service for such cases is required.

Furthermore, it is inhumane to separate on admission elderly married patients at a time when they need each other’s company.

For years, the Gozo minister used to insist there was no waiting list of elderly patients as they were cared for by their families.

However, reality proves otherwise and senior citizens have suffered and continue to suffer because of an inadequate political assessment of the situation. Now we have a new administration, a Gozo Minister assisted by many experts, a parliamentary secretary in charge of hospitals and a Minister for Health to boot.

In addition, a former minister was put in charge of the Gozo hospital and there is also a parliamentary secretary responsible for the aged and the disabled.

Yet, it is very clear that there is no holistic plan to address the needs mentioned above.

Nothing was mentioned in the last Budget either.

Another project, I would like to comment on is St Joseph Institute, which is being converted into an old people’s home.

Was the application filed by the government or is a private contractor involved?

The land belongs to the government and the Gozo Curia.

Will the private sector benefit from public land, property and, perhaps, even finances to run the facility?

As a socialist of the old school, I simply cannot accept such a situation. I believe government-trained specialists will be better suited than staff employed by the private sector to run such a project.

I am told patients are being exploited by being asked to put their houses as collateral. If this is indeed happening, then it should be stopped.

Finally, I would like to again call for an immediate holistic plan to meet the needs of the ageing Gozitans and also to improve on caring services.