5 comments so far.Regional Development Strategy for Gozo launched by the GRDA
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The Prime Minister has presided over the launch of a Vision Document for Gozo set out by the Gozo Regional Development Authority (GRDA). He said that “Gozo is a mine of opportunities and we want to see that as a Government we unleash our full potential.”
The launch was made during a business breakfast organised by the GRDA. The aim of the authority will be the design and implementation of the Regional Development strategy for Gozo.
“Despite the fact that this last year was full of challenges, Gozo has shown great resilience,” the Prime Minister said. “By the end of May the number of registering for unemployment in Gozo had doubled from the level at the beginning of the pandemic. We announced the economic regeneration plan in June. And business in Gozo has responded. By the beginning of this year, 90% of those who had lost their jobs in Gozo had resumed work, a much higher proportion than in Malta.”
Dr Abela said that in recent years, “both Malta and Gozo have seen economic growth that we have never seen before.”
He stated that “Gozo, from a place where opportunities were scarce, has today become a place where opportunities abound and has changed from a place where young people had to move to Malta to work, to a place where in the last 6 years there has been an increase of about 13 people in work every week. This is more than double the increase previously observed.”
Dr Abela explained that the Regional Development Strategy for Gozo will be central because it will bring together the different views of Gozitan society with a view to proposing a realistic and achievable strategic plan.
The Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri said that in recent years Gozo has seen great changes and the problem is no longer a lack of work, but to find enough workers.
He stated that economic development and growth bring with them new challenges that need solutions and therefore this Authority will be an important shoulder for Gozo and the work of the Ministry.
Camilleri went on to say how regional impact assessments will be an essential tool where the Authority will play a crucial role in ensuring that regional studies are carried out for any national proposal that is considered likely to affect Gozo and that the Ministry will give its full support in carrying out its objectives.
He concluded that this Authority will be “instrumental in helping to transform the challenges of Gozo into opportunities by taking holistic and consistent actions with regard to the environmental, social and economic realities of this island.”
The business breakfast was also addressed by GRDA Chairman Michael Grech and Chief Executive Mario Borg.
Those taking part in the discussion were MP Josianne Cutajar, Professor Edward Warrington from the Department of Public Policy within the University of Malta, the President of the Gozo Region Dr Samuel Azzopardi, and the Head of the Department of Economics within the University of Malta Dr Philip Von Brockdorff.
Photo: DOI/Kevin Abela
… we want to see that as a Government we unleash our full potential.”
Means to push the Building Industry . Realizion more PORTELLI Ideas .
So many Buildings are builded in the last 15 Years and 85 % are EMPTY !!!
So you building for WHOM please ???
Let Gozo develope and offer work to Gozitans so they do not have to travel to Malta. Let some kind of circle or even underground traffic ways be created to divert traffic from having to go through Rabat each time one has to go from town to town. BUT let’s stop building new buildings. Enough is enough and we do not need any more lodgings or shops. The authorities should see that empty houses be used, sold and maintained by Grants while left with their original facial. Give Gozo a break! It cannot take it anymore. Do not demolish Xlendi Hotel. No one will be able to rest or rent during the works. It is not just. The building is sound and there is no reason for the demolishing other than to develop it into a more sinister monster. Xlendi is (was) beautiful because of its limited area. I would like that Real Gozitans who have Xlendi to their hearts will rise to protect our island. Marsalforn is beautiful, or is it? All you see are tables and bars. Oh yes as overseas!
I cant say more otherwise my comment will not be published.
Travel infrastructure:
A small island like Gozo could be served quite simply by a figure-8 tram link, forming two connected circles with Victoria/Rabat station at their centre. This could be fully automated and run continuously. Making it free to use would still be profitable as it could save the costs of running an ageing bus fleet, road upkeep, air and noise pollution, traffic accidents and the further deterioration of our urban environment due to increasing numbers of cars and their associated emissions. Now, there is a project the EU will be happy to fund and I would be happy to offer my professional service as a technical consultant to. (Please do not let the politicians appoint non-existing companies of their cronies to make money disappear somewhere while they have debates about irrelevances).
Work:
Creation of high-income work hub focussing on intellectual property development (small version of Silicon Valley) on Gozo would do more for the country as a whole than concentrating the country’s low-wage low-skill industries (factories, construction companies) here and therewith destroying any attraction Gozo still holds for national and international tourists. With a small population and very limited production resources, investing in factories makes no sense amidst the fierce international competition.
Another young state with similar limited natural resources and level of isolation, Israel, has done exactly this to great success. Traditional industry has been disintegrating in the UK since the 80s, while high-tech creative industries (designing and/or manufacturing micro satellites and other high-worth niche products) even managed to record growth during the big recessions of the past two decades.
Gozo needs more breakwaters (Marsalforn) and other places. Also needs crash barriers in most of the roads especially the road from Xaghra to Bajja l-Hamra which is very dangerous. Gozo needs more street furniture and road signs. Gozo needs more Zebra Crossings in most of the villages, especially Marsalforn.
A “vision document”.
For Gozo.
You have to laugh.