Updated 2.10pm - Added government statement
Gozo is not included in a €50 million social housing project that will see the construction of more than 600 units across 16 localities.
Social Housing Minister Michael Falzon said in Parliament that between March 2013, when Labour was elected to government, and June 2017, no planning applications or public tenders were issued for new units on Gozo.
Replying to a parliamentary question tabled by Opposition MP Chris Said, the minister pointed out that this state of affairs dated back to the era of Nationalist governments. He noted that the last Housing Authority project in Gozo dated back to 2003, saying not a single dwelling had been constructed since.
READ: More than 600 units planned in €54m housing project
Though no information was given on the number of pending requests for social housing in Gozo, information presented in Parliament in 2015 showed that 44 applications had been submitted, rising from 32 in March 2013.
The Times of Malta asked for the number of current social housing request, but no information was forthcoming from the ministry.
The government was also asked whether any other initiatives were in the pipeline for Gozo.
In view of the minister’s remark that successive Nationalist governments were partly to blame for the present shortage, this newspaper sought the reaction of Dr Said, who deemed it to be unacceptable that not a single cent from the €50 million budget would be spent on social housing in Gozo.
“From his reply, it is amply clear that nothing was done in the last legislature and there are no plans in the pipeline, either,” the MP said.
Dr Said noted between 2008 and 2013, the Nationalist government rolled out Skema Kiri, through which apartments on the property market were made available for social housing. The waiting list was significantly cut during that period, he added.
“My appeal to the government is not to ignore the social housing problem in Gozo,” Dr Said insisted to this newspaper.
Government issues denial
Although the ministry did not reply to questions prior to publication, the parliamentary secretariat for social accommodation this afternoon issued a statement denying it had no social housing plans for Gozo.
In it, the secretariat said that plans for a new social housing project in Gozo were in the works.
"The proposed site is already identified and plans are being drawn up," the government said. It did not provide any details about the plans.
"This will be the first investment in Gozo social housing after 25 years," it said, arguing that the 2003 project made housing available at a discount, rather than offering housing to socially disadvantaged people.
The government's Nikru biex Nassistu scheme, it added, would make a further 15 apartments in Gozo available for social housing purposes next year.