Gozo ministry powerless - Chris Said

The Gozo ministry's wings have been clipped by the new Labour government, Nationalist  MP Chris Said said this afternoon in Parliament.

In his address to the House, Said, a Gozitan himself, said that the new government's decision to remove educational and health sector responsibilities from the Gozo ministry, "clipped the ministry's wings."

"The Gozo Ministry has been put on the same level of a local council or less," Said noted, and went on to ask what was the reason behind the removal of responsibilities.

"Unlike PN administrations this government does not believe and that Gozo should be run by Gozitans," believes Gozo should be managed by Gozitans," he said.   

Unlike his predecessors, Gozo ministry Anton Refalo is not responsible for the Gozo general hospital which now falls under the responsibility of the health minister.

Similarly, educational responsibilities, previously under the Gozo ministry's responsibilities have been moved to the education minister's portfolio.

Former Gozo minister Giovianna Debono also expressed her disappointment at the decision to reduce the Gozo ministry's responsibilities, saying that the removal of education and health from the Gozo minister's portfolio "weakened the Gozo ministry."

"Hopefully these two sectors in Gozo are given their due importance, despite the changes," Debono said.  

In her speech, Debono spoke at length of her achievements during her tenure as Gozo minister, highlighting the educational, health, tourism, sustainable development  and economic sectors.

"I hope Gozo remains central in government's policies and is given equal treatment in the distribution of resources," Debono said.

In his address, former justice minister Chris Said said he was "largely disappointed that Gozo was not mentioned at all in the 2013 Budget speech," adding that this was an indication that Gozo and economic growth in the sister island was being sidelined by the Labour government.

Said also hit out at the way in which the government appointed the new Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, John Bencini.

"Although the law stipulates that the chairperson should be chosen following consultation with all social partners, the new chairperson was imposed on the MCESD," the former minister said.