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James Debono
The Malta Labour Party could end up with two conflicting proposals on the Gozo airstrip, with its draft policy on the environment opposing an airstrip, and Gozitan MP Anton Refalo pushing in its favour for the party’s forthcoming Gozo policy.
The draft environment policy, prepared by environmental spokespersons Joe Brincat and Roderick Galdes, explicitly states that an airstrip in Gozo “does not make sense” and would have a “negative aesthetic impact on Gozo’s natural environment”, making it “unacceptable.”
But Gozo spokesperson Anton Refalo has told MaltaToday he intends to include a proposal in favour of an airstrip in the MLP’s draft document on Gozo.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Refalo insisted the sister island needs an airstrip for aircraft carrying at least sixty passengers.
Refalo has acknowledged his position conflicts with the draft environmental policy of the MLP. But he claims “a balance should be reached” between safeguarding the environment and Gozo’s tourism needs: “constructing an airstrip does not necessarily mean destroying the environment.”
It was the MLP who first proposed the construction of an airstrip in Gozo in its 1987 electoral manifesto. But in the 1990s, when the Nationalists were proposing an airstrip on agricultural land in Xewkija, the MLP opposed it.
In its 1996 manifesto, Labour committed itself to stop the PN’s plans for the Gozo airstrip. It was in fact one of Alfred Sant’s first, bold decisions as Prime Minister in 1996 to stop the airstrip, after withdrawing the country from the Partnership for Peace.
Refalo said “as a dynamic party” the MLP should recognise that “circumstances have changed” when asked about whether Labour will be committing yet another U-turn on its 1996 commitment.
His Gozitan Parliamentary colleague, Justyne Caruana, is still in line with the party’s position: “Personally, I do not agree with the construction of an airstrip in Gozo. Besides this is also the party policy which is based on the fact that way back in 1996 the Gozitans, especially those of Xewkija and the nearby villages Sannat and Ghajnsielem, did not want it. We are there to serve the people and their interest is paramount to the MLP.”
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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