Alfred Sant said today that if elected to the European Parliament, “he would be in the forefront of making environment regulations satisfy both the needs of the overall community and the needs of a viable and sustainable agriculture policy in Malta and Gozo while respecting all laws and regulations.”

This morning the EP candidate was in Gozo where he visited tourism and, retail establishments and farmers in Victoria, Xewkija, Xlendi and Santa Lucija and talked to shop owners, restaurant managers, hotel operators and farmers.

Tourism operators confirmed that tourism is on the upswing in Gozo and were interested to ensure that EU guidelines of travel and insurance arrangements were maintained in ways that fit with situations of very small island economies. The same argument cropped up during the day when Alfred Sant visited retail establishments.

Alfred Sant visited farmers in Santa Lucija and during discussions about rural development, it emerged that Gozitan farmers and cattle owners involved in the production of milk, are interested to ensure that regulations regarding the control of nitrates in the soil are realistically adapted to the environment in Gozo.

Alfred Sant said that in this contest there needs to be kept a balance between the needs of the farming community in Gozo and the claims of environmental controls, which are good in themselves, but need to be implemented with proper attention.

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