The dates of October 22 and 23 marked a very important first for Gozo and the Labour Party. On these two days, the first Gozo Congress was held. This is now a statutory annual event on the PL calendar.
Gozo is sick and badly so- Franco Mercieca
Gozo and the Gozitans are passing through a rough time this last decade. This is the result of the short-sighted, pseudo-feudalistic way of doing politics and pure clientelism rather than a clear structured vision for Gozo, that would benefit all rather than the few. The Nationalist Party’s colonial treatment of Gozo and the Gozitans has now left an indelible mark.
Gozo is sick and badly so. The treatment it needs for its recovery has become quite expensive and will be quite lengthy.
The congress, which was very well attended, especially by the youth section, was indeed aimed at addressing all the ills of the Gozitan social fabric, economy and well-being.
Five workshops were held, namely on governance, the generation of work, health and environment, culture and youths. These all confirmed the acute and chronic illnesses that Gozo is suffering from. The working groups, apart from discussing these ailments, came up with a list of ideas and possible solutions that could help in the healing process.
As in all ailments, the first exercise is to acknowledge the presence of a problem and then come to terms with it. Once this is established, then one can start tackling the issues.
Over the years, the Nationalists have been masters in talking the talk but very poor in walking the walk. Many promises have been pledged over and over again but, as yet, have not been fulfilled and, therefore, the PN has failed us miserably.
The PL acknowledged that the major scourge is the blatant lack of jobs for Gozitans in Gozo. From the scarce statistics that are occasionally leaked from the Ministry of Gozo, the big majority of the Gozitan workforce in Gozo consists of government employees and, while loads are employed with the government in Malta, a huge number commute to Malta on a daily basis, working with the private sector.
The unemployment rate in Gozo is higher than that in Malta and this is more significant because all part-timers are taken off the register. Lest one forgets, like with like, a job in Gozo pays far less than in Malta, which puts the Gozitan employees in a far more precarious financial situation when compared to their Maltese counterparts.
A very important fact that has also been conveniently set aside by the authorities is that, since 2008, according to official statistics, there were 1,083 individuals who have sought help from government institutions in order to emigrate.
This is an average of almost one person a day over the last three years. The number of individuals who left our shores during the period without asking for any help from the Administration is not known.
This emigration phenomenon, which is reminiscent of Gozo’s mass emigration in the 1960s, is saving the government its blushes as the unemployment rate would have been drastically higher.
This congress has confirmed the PL’s commitment to recognise Gozo as a region that contrasts with what the Malta-EU Information Centre and the PN in government had wrongly promised pre-EU referendum in 2003. At the time, Declaration 36 had been hailed as an agreement that would secure Gozo’s economic future on EU accession. However, on EU accession, it transpired that this document was only a unilateral declaration from Malta without any bilateral agreement with the EU. This fiasco was all due to the fact that the government never mandated the European Commission to report on the economic and social situation of Gozo in advance of the negotiations on the EU budgetary framework for 2007-2013.
Moreover, the future probability of Gozo having a special EU status as an island region seems to be highly unlikely thanks to the PN’s lack of commitment towards the island of Gozo.
In spite of all this, Joseph Muscat, in his landmark speech on October 23, confirmed that the PL’s primary aim is to rehabilitate Gozo’s economy by generating more jobs for Gozitans in Gozo.
The message is loud and clear. If the electorate gives the mandate to the PL in the next election, then, Dr Muscat will not only be injecting a big dose of goodwill and political commitment to ease the bureaucratic web that is crippling Gozitan businessmen but also offering them serious and substantial incentives to invest in Gozo and, therefore, revitalise the Gozitan economy.
The PL, while calling on people to forget the past that caused division and look forward towards a uniting future, is pledging its goodwill and political commitment to generate more jobs for Gozitans in Gozo thus promising a brighter future.
franco@francomercieca.com
www.francomercieca.com
The author is a consultant ophthalmic surgeon.