Government plans to again use Tal-Qortin in Xagħra as a landfill have been shelved after pressure from the Nationalist Patty, the shadow minister for Gozo, Chris Said, said on Thursday.

He recalled that the former PN government had closed the waste dump at Qortin and started the process of transforming the site into a park, planting many trees and sourcing funds from the EU.

But six years on, and despite commitments by the present government, the park had still not materialised. The trees were also in a poor state because a reservoir was not being used.  

At one time the government had also considered setting up a solar energy farm on the site, and those plans had also not been realised, Dr Said observed. 

The government's indecision and its failure to complete the park was seen as a betrayal by the people of Xagħra, Dr Said said. He criticised Labour councillors for not having joined their PN colleagues in voting in a council resolution against re-using the site as a dump.