During a press conference on Friday, Nationalist Party candidates Michael Piccinino, Beppe Galea and David Bonello listed what they said are ”some of the many promises that the Labour Party in Government has failed to deliver from one election to the next.”

Gozitan candidate Beppe Galea pointed out that ”Gozo and Gozitans were promised a great deal by the Labour Party, but out of the many things promised, almost nothing was delivered.”

He stated that the new Gozo hospital has ”not even started, let alone is it being used. The same goes for the Marsalforn breakwater, the museum in Victoria, Gozo, which has remained a construction site, and the Innovation Hub, which was meant to be a centre for start-ups and quality jobs but instead ended up full of small government offices rather than start-ups.”

Galea argued that ”the Centre of Excellence for Research and Big Data in Gozo also never materialised, as did the restoration of Qolla l-Bajda Battery, the Regional Natural Park, the restoration of the pumping station in Sannat and Xewkija, the promise for Gozo to become the first part of the country to be climate-neutral, the space for Carnival enthusiasts in Gozo, the multi-level parking in Marsalforn, the expansion of MCAST, which still lacks full-time courses, the new Court building that has still not arrived, the masterplans for Marsalforn and Xlendi, the airfield in Xewkija, the new vessels for Gozo and many others – a list that does not end.”

Beppe Galea concluded that Gozo ”deserves to be a strong region with the infrastructure it deserves. Gozo truly needs a Fresh Start.”

Michael Piccinino referred to the new campus promised by the Labour Government for the Institute of Tourism Studies, the ITS, in 2016. While the Labour Party speaks about quality tourism, for 10 years it failed to deliver on the promise of a new campus for the ITS, specifically for studies in tourism.

He also referred to the promise, repeated over the years by the Labour Party, of a new mental health hospital. This never materialised. He mentioned how we were promised strong investment in St Luke’s Hospital, Karin Grech and a new hospital for Gozitans. ”Nothing happened.”

He also referred to how, ”in the 2017 election, the Labour Party promised that it would fix all roads in Gozo and eradicate traffic. Traffic continued to increase and many roads remained undone. Then, in the 2022 election, we were told that traffic would be solved through the metro, and we were led to understand that, once entering Valletta, people would be able to buy a ticket and start using the service.”

He went on to say that ”two elections have come and gone, and not only has nothing happened, but for a third consecutive election Labour has gone before the people with yet another supposed solution in the form of another mass transport project. But they are not even consistent on this. Clyde Caruana told us he still cannot say whether he agrees with the project because he has not yet seen the costings. It seems that this Labour proposal is another silly season idea.”

David Bonello continued with the long list of promises that the Labour Party made to people over the years and that, to this day, ”have remained only on paper. Among them is the car racing track which, at every election, Labour dangles like a carrot in front of enthusiasts, who are still waiting for it to this day.” He also mentioned the electric charging points promised by Labour, of which very few were actually installed.

Bonello also spoke about embellishment projects that we have been hearing about for years and that appeared in several Labour electoral manifestos, ”but to this day have remained there.” These include the project that was meant to cover the Santa Venera tunnels with a garden – ”a project that appears to have vanished into thin air.”

The same goes for the St Anne Street project, which was meant to give Floriana residents breathing space through a large area dedicated to people, with cars going underground. He said that, ”instead, Floriana residents were given even more gridlocked traffic in St Anne Street.”

He also mentioned how Labour had promised unprecedented investment in solar panels. ”Today we know that even those panels that were installed were not connected to the grid.” The PN speakers said that the Labour Party, with ”a 13-year track record of unfulfilled promises, has lost all credibility.”

Photo: PN

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