It’s been a year since I announced my intention to contest the European Parliament elections on behalf of the Nationalist Party. From day one, I’ve been visiting Gozo weekly, conducting hundreds of house visits.
Gozitans are resilient, but the situation is bleak. Unkept promises make the situation worse. The connection between the two islands is a major hurdle for thousands of Gozitans who commute daily for work, studies or medical purposes. The current Gozo channel vessels have been unchanged for the last 18 years. Heavily inflicted delays are detrimental to commuters. The fast ferry service is embroiled in a legal battle.
What follows are daily life experiences I’ve encountered during my weekly house visits in Gozo for the past year. Names have been changed to protect privacy.
Maria is a 38-year-old mother of two. She and her husband work in Malta and reside in Gozo. They wake up at five am, Monday to Friday take their children to her parents and catch the 7am ferry to Malta. They work in the central part of Malta – it takes them an hour to reach their respective destinations. They’re back in Gozo by 7pm. They both have a tertiary level of education but in Gozo they have no opportunity to work and put into practice their long years of studying.
Joseph is a taxi driver. He commutes to Malta daily ferrying tourists to and from the airport. It’s a daily nightmare – the lack of a fourth Gozo channel ferry is a major inconvenience.
Seventy-year-old Lina needs constant medical attention, requiring her to visit the Gozo General hospital every week. The services offered by the new, private owners leave much to be desired. Gozitans were robbed of their hospital and their disappointment is huge, to put it mildly.
Sandra and Joe are an elderly couple from Victoria with a summer residence in Marsalforn. The once sought-after locality is fast turning into an unregulated area as a large number of third-country nationals take advantage of the town’s relatively low rents. Sandra and Joe are concerned about the lack of security in Marsalforn and are wary of taking their usual evening stroll along the promenade. Michela is an IT graduate whose dream was to set up a software company in Gozo. The lack of incentives for Gozitan start-ups, and the absence of a much promised but never materialised fibre optic cable, quashed Michela’s dream, as it did to hundreds of other would-be investors.
Toni, in his late 60s, has been working his fields in Għarb since he was a young boy. So did his father and grandfather before him. His two sons will have none of that. The lack of government aide and the bureaucracy involved in securing EU funds have them looking elsewhere.
A greater share of EU funds is needed for Gozo
The Cassar family has been in the furniture business for years. Following the 2017 general election, they suffered a massive blow when they lost their handful of employees to the public sector. It is a well-known fact that hundreds of Gozitans were taken from the private sector and employed with the government. The population of Gozo is officially around 33,000. Every employee who leaves private sector employment constitutes a large loss. It was a heavy slap in the face for the Gozitan businessman and entrepreneur.
Gozo is a beautiful island but its challenges are various and the prospect of a better future is bleak. The benefits of EU membership should have transformed it into a vibrant economy. It did not. Endless conferences have taken place discussing Gozo’s future. There has never really been a long-term business plan for Gozo.
The time for action is now. Gozo’s case in Europe must be made boldly and convincingly. For a start, Gozo must be given a Region status to make its case stronger in Europe and in the attainment of EU funds for its multiple needs. A resolution on boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions has been adopted by the European Parliament. This was a step in the right direction because it highlights reasonable concerns about the disadvantages that burden border regions compared to other European regions.
Previous administrations had allocated to Gozo 10 per cent of the EU funds received by Malta, based on relative population size, with a further three per cent as a catching-up effort. A greater share is needed for Gozo if we are to revive the island, which is crying out precisely for that.
On a local level, a fast ferry service is needed, as is the fourth Gozo ferry channel and a fibre optic cable.
Budget 2019 fell short of addressing Gozitans’ most pertinent challenges. Only five pages, from an extensive document, are about Gozo. Most of what has been promised had already been pledged and undelivered in previous Labour government budgets, such as a new hospital, new law courts, embellishment of Xlendi and Marsalforn, upgrading of Pjazza San Franġisk in Victoria.
There is no better way to understand Gozitan needs than speaking to Gozitans themselves. Gozo should not be considered as an extension of Malta, or just another electoral district. Gozo has challenges unique to its own. It is a region of Malta and should be treated accordingly. It is a region with its specific environment; its history; its dioceses and its demography.
Gozitans deserve better.
Frank Psaila is a lawyer and PN MEP candidate.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece