In the Gozo pages (February 12) the newspaper reported the opening of the La Caverna wine outlet at Kempinski San Lawrenz. The picture shows Ms Baldacchino and Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono happily cutting a cake to mark the 10th anniversary of the hotel in Gozo and the opening of this new, chic outlet.

I wonder if the following crossed their minds while they were cutting the cake or sipping wine afterwards.

Does the road leading to the hotel meet European standards? For those who have not been there lately it classifies better as a safari trek than a road!

Did their rattled bones convince them that they should immediately see to it that this stretch of road be given some form of smooth surface, even if temporarily?

What do the two women think their guests would say about the Kempinski when they have been over this part of the road and then have to face a never-to-be completed set of trenching works which stops just before one takes the left turn into the hotel drive?

These trenches were begun over a year ago and seem to have stalled completely.

Does the minister have the gall to leave the road in this state when this leads to two prominent tourist attractions in Gozo, namely Ta’ Dbieġi crafts village and the gateway to the Inland Sea – Eco-Gozo in practice?

Would the minister have informed Ms Baldacchino how much longer it would take to end the upheaval caused by the works on the main road via Xewkija and Victoria? Is there a timeframe?

On another subject: did the two women have a look at the Caverna price list? I wonder.

And in the process did Ms Baldacchino inform the minister how many ITS Gozo-trained staff have been lost from Kempinski who were replaced by ‘students’ sent for ‘training’ from all over the world by Kempinski, thus removing the local flavour that was so characteristic of the hotel in years gone by?

And finally, would Ms Debono have noticed, during her home visits, that most of the major roads in Gozo have become an absolute mess during her ‘reign’? I would mention only a few examples: the road leading to Nadur, Marsalforn, Sannat and damage already apparent in the new roads that lead from Victoria to Ta’ Pinu and Xlendi.

We do not want to hear buzzwords like Eco-Gozo, EU funding, and so forth – all we ask for is proper management of this small island.