“What is happening here in Gozo is exactly the opposite of what should be happening. The destruction of Gozo’s natural beauty
goes against the philosophy of Eco-Gozo.”

This was stated by Independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola on Friday, during a press conference held in front of the road widening
exercise in agricultural land embarked upon by Infrastructure Malta in Victoria, Gozo.

Cassola argued that, ”the natural beauty of Gozo should be left untouched and, rather than going for mass tourism, Gozo should
utilise the beauty offered by nature to the island by concentrating on niche tourism areas, such as diving holidays, walking holidays,
rural tourism, religious tourism, etc., for which the EU offers generous aid programmes, such as the COSME programme.”

He pointed out that ”experience has shown that such examples of soft tourism offer a high grade of protection of natural
beauty, whilst producing a higher economic yield.”

With regards to the transport system, Cassola insisted that the emphasis should be on better access for cyclists and pedestrians, whilst
the frequency of public transport should be increased from one trip an hour to at least three.

He stated that, ”Gozitan Ministers, rather than concentrating on employing their relatives or stealing historical artefacts, or
repeatedly making false promises which never happen, such as Marsalforn Breakwater, Xlendi buoy, Victoria law courts, Gozo tunnel, etc.,
should instead concentrate on a real Eco-Gozo, which runs on renewable energy and produces clean quality jobs in the fields of
agriculture, tourism, research and Innovation.”

Cassola said, ”we should stop the farce of a fake non-functional semi-autonomous region. Gozo should become a real European
region, with a regional council directly elected by its residents, in order to better benefit from European regional funds.”

He concluded by saying that ”the devastation that is taking place in Gozo, through a rampant building spree without any
intelligent planning must stop immediately. We must nurture the natural heritage and beauty of Gozo not only for aesthetic reasons, but
also because this is the pivot around which the island’s economy revolves.”

Photo: Arnold Cassola

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