It was shocking of the Gozo Ministry to declare that no action was to be taken against the contractor who contaminated Xlendi Bay when he broke a main sewage pipe last Monday, the Labour Party said.

PL Gozo spokesman Anton Refalo said in a statement that it was shameful of the ministry to act as the defense lawyer of its “favourite” contractor, rather than defend the interests of taxpayers and the Gozitan environment.

The ministry has told The Times that the contractor will not face legal consequences as “the pipe was going to be replaced in the coming weeks”.

Dr Refalo said that the incident happened because the government opted for the works to be carried out in summer to accommodate the contractor, whose interests were more important than those of the tourism operators at Xlendi for the minister.

He said that this contractor was also in charge of the Xlendi road works, as well as other major government contracts amounting to more than €20 million.

The ministry’s behaviour, Dr Refalo said, showed that eco-Gozo did not really mean anything and that the government did not care about Gozitans.

In respect to taxpayers, the government should see what steps could be taken so that taxpayers would not have to pay for damages caused by incompetence, and that there would be remedies for damages to the environment, businesses and other inconveniences.