The Nationalist Party would be “pushing” the government to declare Gozo a region as part of amendments to the Constitution, leader Adrian Delia said on Sunday.
Speaking at an event in Gozo marking the start of week-long meetings during the party’s general council, Dr Delia said that while the government was not considering such a move, the PN would continue pushing for the island to be declared a region.
“This will remain the party’s position on the matter and we will push the government to make it happen,” Dr Delia insisted.
Former PN leader Simon Busuttil had made a similar pledge ahead of the last general election as this would enable Gozo to apply for up to €250 million in EU funds.
Dr Delia also lambasted the government for “forgetting about Gozo”, insisting that while for the PN the island always remained a priority, the Labour government did not even mention Gozo in its Budget speech for 2019.
“There was some chapter that mentioned Gozo but this seemed like some afterthought. We started the general council here to underline this fact,” the PN leader said.
He argued that the government had also repeatedly failed to keep promises it had made to the people in Gozo, insisting that while Dr Muscat spoke of a number of improvements to various sectors, including, health, education and tourism, these had yet to see the light of day.
On the Gozo hospital, which is now run by Steward Healthcare after it took over from Vitals in 2017, Dr Delia said that instead of focusing on the well-being of patients, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was more interested in multi-million euro deals.
“The Prime Minister is in Gozo because after hearing about us being here, he decided to follow us to the island. Dr Muscat should have come here, or anywhere really, for a debate with me and I would have asked him why he is forgetting the people in Gozo.
“I would have asked him why he was forgetting about the education system here. Did the Prime Minister never come to the island as a child? Does he not have friends who live in Gozo? If, during the so-called “best time for Malta”, Dr Muscat did not even find a single euro for the Gozitans, when will he?” the PN leader asked.
He went on to add that during visits in various localities recently, he would often meet farmers who complained that the government did not care about the Maltese products and that they feared the sector would soon be destroyed for good.
The government wants numbers, he said, while the PN wants to focus the common good.
“We believe in the Maltese product. We believe in farmers. We do not have a lot of time but we will do our best to save the sector,” Dr Delia went on.
On the use of pre-fabricated classrooms, the government itself declared a failure here because its reaction to criticism over the use of such mobile classrooms was that these were better than actual classrooms, he added.
“Dr Muscat has also failed the elderly when he said that people’s pensions depended on the foreigners. A society that does not respect its elders is a truly rotten society. These things are decisions of someone who is leaving and that is dangerous.”