Credit should be given where it is due. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority took a refreshingly sound decision when it decided to reject most of the applications for the sanctioning of illegally built or extended boathouses in Dwejra last Thursday. Such a move was long overdue and sends out the right message.
Dwejra is an area of immense scenic beauty - above as well as below the water - and deserves to be treated as such. Whereas the famous Azure Window has been left unspoilt, the Inland Sea area, an outstanding geological feature in its own right, has been made to look like a quarry. It is not before time that something is being done to address that.
But if Mepa deserves a gold star for its decision last Thursday, it can only be criticised for giving the green light to a most unsightly - even in its revised form - and unnecessary so-called interpretation centre that has already blighted the Dwejra landscape for two years now.
To compound matters, it has clearly emerged that this centre, which is a euphemism for a restaurant, is more about making money than helping tourists make the most of the experience, which in any case is visual above all else. Why does this area need an establishment that provides food and drink when it already has two - a fixed kiosk and a small bar by the Inland Sea? Why does it need toilets when, unlike many other outdoor areas in the Maltese islands, it already has some?
The answer lies, rather unhappily, in the way some Gozitans like to do things. These people are the ones who have riddled the golden goose with bullet holes and will continue to do so unless they are stopped.
When visitors disembark the ferry at Mġarr - which was a pretty harbour before a grand and unsightly concrete terminal was needlessly built - they are greeted by two billboard-type signs. One shows a couple saying 'Welcome to Gozo' with scenic countryside behind them, while the other shows a view of the harbour from the sea with the message 'Together for a better Gozo'.
Yet real modern Gozo has become so very different. Monstrous or out-of-character developments are sprouting up in every nook and cranny of the most picturesque villages. Marsalforn and Xlendi were the first to be ruined, but now several others are following suit. There are too many examples to mention.
And where countryside remains, a considerable amount has been blighted. Anyone walking in the San Raflu area beyond Kerċem will have to dodge a constant stream of industrial trucks filled with rubble; those who stroll on the San Lawrenz side of the Dwejra window will see masses of dumped rubbish; while quarries have scarred the landscape in many other areas.
The biggest tragedy is that nobody is doing anything about this. The Gozo Ministry, whose role is unclear, is more focused on serving the interests of Gozitans than the interests of Gozo. It is an unfortunate fact that all too often these interests do not coincide. And there is no evidence to suggest that a change of government would make the situation any better. On the contrary, the indications are that it will only get worse - since the problem is cultural rather than political.
The Gozitans themselves, or at least some of them, talk of bridges to Malta and airstrips to improve accessibility. But they do so at the expense of a more productive discussion about what made the island such a welcoming place to visit in the first place.
If they are honest with themselves, they will realise, as others have done, that prices have gone up and in too many establishments the food and service are not up to scratch - which may suit the day-trip crowd but it fails to tantalise, on a regular enough basis, the senses of the repeat long-stay visitor. Or the Maltese who these days can fly to Tuscany and many other places for the cost of a dinner for two back home.
Gozo can be the most wonderful place if due care and attention is applied to it, and Eco-Gozo has a great ring to it. But it will only become a reality if action is taken and attitudes change.