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The Maltese Herald

Dismantling the Ministry of Gozo would actually create jobs in Gozo but no one wants to admit this

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by

Mark Camilleri
in ,
Gozitan MP Chris Said has been feeling out of the limelight recently, so he came up with a new distraction to remind us of his existence. He could have taken his time and energy to focus on the most talked about issue over Gozo which is the Fort Chambray project, but instead he came up with this nonsense about Gozo having political autonomy. Some press reports are even making historical references to when Gozo was “autonomous” from Malta such as during the French blockade of 1798-1800.

Have you all gone out of your minds?

First of all, if Chris Said wanted to speak out at this point, it would have been better for him to address the Fort Chambray issue instead of anything else–an issue involving the destruction of Gozitan and national heritage, about which his colleague, Alex Borg has been very dishonest.

Secondly, what autonomy are you all speaking about? A third of the Gozitan workforce is literally employed by the government, with many others depending on the companies that are awarded government contracts. Most of the government jobs handed out by the Ministry of Gozo, so Gozitan politicians want the Maltese subsidise the luxurious lifestyle of Gozitan workforce and even have autonomy over public finances handed to them.

Once again, are you all out of your minds?

From an infrastructural and planning standpoint Malta is too small to have different districts and autonomous authorities. The only division that can be made in practice is that between countryside and urban: which is mainly the Main Harbour Area with Gozo making part of the countryside. Dismantling the Ministry of Gozo and fully incorporating the Gozitan public services with the main public service infrastructure will increase efficiency. In addition, Gozitans will be compelled to look for productive and sustainable jobs instead of depending on government pay-cheques. The Ministry of Gozo is only holding the Gozitan economy back by creating non-productive jobs and increasing rent-seeking.

None of the politicians will admit these things fearing they will lose votes among the Gozitan community but Gozitans are actually better off being part of the overall government system and economy than recusing themselves into  some sort of special-status that needs government support to survive. Having said that Gozo inevitably needs a road and metro connection to Malta irrespective of how this is done in terms of infrastructure. That we are still using the ferry to cross from one island to another is ridiculous, and also more expensive for us all.

 

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