Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson and MEP candidate Arnold Cassola has charged government with not having prepared a plan for its target to turn Gozo into an eco-island.
Accompanying a group of Germans visiting the island of Gozo, Cassola emphasised the importance of a government strategy for the development of rural and alternative tourism niches that would also create innovative employment in the region and for which the European Union allots considerable funds.
“Government continues to brand Gozo as an eco-island, and, unbelievably, this has not yet been substantiated by an eco-tourism plan that would highly benefit Gozo and the stakeholders within such sectors,” Cassola said.
“AD maintains that a sustainable ecological tourist strategy for Gozo demands clear consolidated planning, rather than random ministerial declarations with no end in sight. MEPA has a legal responsibility to safeguard Gozo’s environment. Public opinion believes this environmental watchdog is increasingly becoming complacent with monied applicants and then toughens its stand with the weaker ones,” Cassola said.
Cassola said the government had to recognise the financial potential of the eco-tourism sector for the islands’ domestic product, and its special significance to Gozo where tourism suffers seasonal downturns. “Such niche tourism projects fit Gozo’s low tourist season when paradoxically it is during such winter months that nature blesses its valleys and hills in an abundance of green scenery.
“AD’s proposal three years ago for Gozo to become an eco-island was meaningful and realistic and certainly not a promotional exercise. The party believed then and now that Gozo and its residents deserve a clean environment, rich in its traditions and offerings for the benefit of the islanders and its guests.”
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