Despite financial constraints, the government was committed to its €25 million project of turning Gozo into an “ecological island”, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said yesterday.
He said the Eco Gozo vision, with its 80 proposals to be implemented by 2012, was important for the government, which was committed to seeing it through despite the need to cut the deficit.
Among the proposals are a public garden in Marsalforn, three sites for afforestation, a public park in Xagħra on the site of the former rubbish dump and a waste transfer station at a place known as Tal-Kus.
Addressing a pre-Budget consultation business breakfast in Marsalforn, Mr Fenech said he was rather disappointed that only 20 Gozitan companies had applied for Malta Enterprise schemes to improve their business under the European Regional and Development Fund. The take-up from Gozo was just five per cent of the total available funds, from which 372 Maltese companies benefited.
The minister said he was seeing improvement in the Gozitan economy after the slowdown registered last year due to the recession, with unemployment down.
The number of passengers crossing between Malta and Gozo rose to 3.14 million between January and September, up from 2.96 million in the same period last year.
The government would be presenting a “cautious” Budget, within the context of the fragile economic recovery abroad. It would continue to work on generating jobs and would keep an eye on the situation in other countries, particularly those EU states whose situation could have an impact on Malta.
Joe Grech, from the Gozo Chamber for Commerce, called on the government to facilitate a creativity and innovation economy in Gozo and for better broadband links with Malta’s sister island.
Michael Grech, from the Gozo Business Chamber, complained about excessive bureaucracy. He said while the government wanted to be paid promptly when it came to Vat returns and taxes from businesses, it then took its time to issue tax refunds.
Joe Muscat, from the Gozo Tourism Association, said tourism was not growing in parallel with that in Malta. He called for an upgrade of the Gozo Channel ferry company and the introduction of season tickets to tackle the seasonality obstacle. He complained that the fee for a licence for a swimming pool at a farmhouse in Gozo was equivalent to that of a 300-bed hotel.
Reacting to a call for the setting up of a statistics office for Gozo, Mr Fenech said the NSO was well-resourced but it made sense to collect specific information on Gozo.