Malta’s soon-to-be President, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, is defending her decision to open a residence and an office in Gozo as a way of ensuring Gozitans’ needs are heard.

“I want to give more visibility to Gozo and I want to give easy accessibility [to the President’s office] to the Gozitans,” said Ms Coleiro Preca, who is expected to be sworn in as President on April 4.

The plan, she said, was to convert an abandoned house located in Triq It-Torri San Lawrenz into a residence that would mainly be used to hold meetings and organise events connected with the presidency.

She also planned to open a one-roomed office in Rabat so that people would be able to access services, including those offered through the Malta Community Chest Fund.

Since the house was located in San Lawrenz she felt there was still the need to have a small office in a central location that was more accessible.

For this reason the plan was to have the office in Rabat. Asked about the cost, she said she was not in the position to cost this project at the moment.

However, she said, this ensured the government property was not allowed to deteriorate further, it would save on accommodation costs and, more importantly, it ensured Gozitans had a link with the President’s office.

Ms Coleiro Preca said since her nomination was made public she was approached by Gozitans who expressed their wish to have better access to the President’s office.

After discussing the matter with Gozo Minister Anton Refalo she confirmed access was lacking so she started looking at options. It was pointed out to her that government had a house, currently in an abandoned state, in San Lawrenz that would be ideal.

The house can be split up in such a way that different areas can be used for two ongoing meetings. It can also be used to organise small activities for the community.

“I’m not sure if the term ‘residence’ is the correct one. The main use would be that of holding meetings, such as with NGOs. But it makes sense that it will have modest living quarters,” she said.

This, she insisted, would mean she would not have to rent a hotel room if she had to spend a night in Gozo.