Transport Minister Austin Gatt said yesterday in Parliament that some weeks ago, answering an opposition parliamentary question that asked how many Gozitans had been appointed to certain positions in his ministry, he had been tempted to ask "What is a Gozitan?"

Was it someone born and bred in Gozo and still residing there, or one who had been born on the sister island but since moved to a residence in Malta? Or was it somebody born in Malta who had married in Gozo and continued to reside there?

Minister Gatt said this in an aside to supplementary parliamentary questions on why Gozo was sometimes described as a region, but then was considered as just another electoral district with regard to information on taxes paid.

He said it was easy to determine how many people residing in Gozo paid how much in taxes, but indirect taxation was another thing altogether. Also to be considered was a business registered in Malta but also operating in Gozo, besides Malta itself. No distinction could be made in this regard, he said.