I read that the Minister for Gozo is lauding ‘Eco Gozo’ once again.

The good minister should take a long slow trip around Gozo without the ministerial car, with its darkened windows, and take a real, long, hard look at her precious “Gozo Gozo”.

She will observe the utter filth that abounds on every patch of unused ground, in the form of builders’ waste by the thousands of tons, scrap metal, old rusting boat trailers (these are also liberally strewn around car parking bays all around the island), human detritus at every self-help recycle point, white goods (dumped under cover of darkness) on the side of the road, and carelessly placed household waste bags ripped apart by feral animals and the stinking contents strewn around (the refuse collectors do not clean it up as it is not their responsibility).

Everywhere one looks there is evidence of illegal activity against the environment. The issues mentioned above are not a definitive list.

There is also the festering sore that is the ‘boathouses’ issue and illegal bird hides in fields and uncountable bonfires of field rubbish (and who knows what else) spewing smoke and stench daily at this time of year.

Eco Gozo? She hasn’t got a clue. But it could so easily be different if she were to pull her weight and order her department to carry out its duties to the electorate.

The next election will not be a foregone conclusion for her or any other candidate of the Nationalist Party in Gozo, she can be sure of that.