Dear Gozo, as I sit down writing out these few thoughts about my home since 2012, I cannot help but wonder how Gozo will look in a few years’ time.

I dread the lunacy of a short-term economic boom using the construction industry as the main source of food on the table.  I fear that Gozo and Comino, the lungs of the Maltese islands, will be next in line.

Accessibility is always the top item on the agenda in just about every business meeting in Gozo. It seems that the only solution to make Gozo sustainable is giving it a permanent link to the mainland.

I always thought that most administrations used Gozo as the winning pawn in elections. Gozo has always been treated like a second-class island, and the Gozitans taken for a ride on many occasions.

They have been promised work in Gozo, better accessibility, a cruise liner terminal and so much more.

In reality these promises always seemed to be as elusive as the oil discovery promise on just about every election eve.

The failure of governments to keep to their promises generated a “need” for the permanent link. Rather than investing in  a self-sustainable economy out of what is already available in Gozo and seeking new green markets, the governments have relegated Gozo to becoming an irrelevant island hugely reliant on the success of the economy in Malta. 

Since the country’s accession to the EU in 2004, Gozo has seen much-needed infrastructural investment sourced through EU funding. New roads, ships, a terminal, human waste management treatment plant, waste separation project, the restoration of the Citadel, local councils gaining access to funds supporting embellishment projects and so much more.

In a recent business meeting that we had with Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana, she said: “It is not the numbers we are after, since we have those, but quality.”

Indeed, she is right. This is what we need to think about, so that the influx of quality tourism increases steadily but sustainably.

The three pillars I believe to be the fundamental elements of a successful Gozo are education, infrastructure and tourism.

In terms of education, as an IT specialist with over 24 years’ experience, I cannot but be bewildered by why Gozitan students are still being expected to travel all the way to Malta, spend thousands of euros on rent and live away from their families, many times in poor conditions, when today’s technology and cloud-based academic solutions offer the ultimate learning and student assessment experience. 

These systems could reduce the brain drain we have in Gozo.

Online services and long-distance learning have been gaining momentum for years now, and with the investment of upgrading the internet link to Malta under way, these concepts need to be taken on board without further delay.

We seem to be blinded by short-term gains rather than long-term planning

These two sectors are far behind compared to other countries.

In the online services industry alone, it seems that while the local consumer is clearly spending much more on online shops, the local business sector is still not realising the full potential of online activity and is leaving its online presence, in many cases, outdated, irrelevant as well as unusable.

In the tourism sector as well, much more needs to be done. The idea of the sun, the sea and the beaches cliché is long past its sell-by date.

What is happening in Malta must be avoided at all costs in Gozo. Let’s not delude ourselves that our islands are the most beautiful in the Mediterranean. They are not and in most cases they are not as competitive as other, far-better-looking and organised countries.

Our heritage is being systemically and strategically destroyed. It is heavily overshadowed by tower cranes and our country is fast becoming a concrete jungle. Tourists are seeing it, smelling it, tasting it and talking about it. Our islands are looking like an underdeveloped, Third World country recovering from a recent war. 

The danger of an economic collapse may not yet be so obvious, but the current hype on raising some numbers and not others is in my mind just an attempt to push back the potential oversaturation of this sector.

The construction lobby group are no fools, and quickly realising that as the milk runs out from the cow in Malta, they will have to turn to Gozo. This is why this sector is one of the most ardent supporters of the Gozo-Malta tunnel project.

Avoiding this is possible, but only if we think outside the box.

The mixed farming sector should be one of the most thriving sectors in Gozo. Yet there is simply no will from anyone to regenerate the sector, and as the number of full-time farmers and animal husbandry farms dwindle, those remaining, are simply, exhaustedly battling bureaucracy, fighting unfair competition and rising costs, and sustaining lower returns.

The local products are suffering in the hands of a very disturbing situation which sees foreign products mixed with local ones and sold off as local. There is simply no control to ensure that the customers are given the quality they expect.

The sheep cheese industry is also under threat. A number of cheese producers are generating far too much given the number of animals they have. The genuine, traditional, Gozo cheese farmer is forced to compete with this unfair competition.

The liquid waste management plant, which was due to be built in one of the most pristine villages in Gozo, Munxar, seems to remain just talk. To my knowledge this project is still on the shelf, leaving farmers with no reasonable alternatives to dispose of their animal waste.

We used to have campaigns on billboards and adverts supporting local products. There is no hint of this anymore.

There are many reasons Gozo should go green. There is an incredible potential in green economy, yet we seem to be blinded by short-term gains rather than long-term planning and proposing a sustainable and ecological future for our children.

Steve Pace is a company director and ICT consultant.

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