PN pledges dedicated EU fund for Gozo

Nationalist Party leader Alex Borg has pledged a dedicated EU fund for Gozo, a 400-bed hospital, and expanded ferry ports.

He made the announcements at an EPP-backed conference organised by MEP Peter Agius, where he also spoke about agricultural funding reform and the need to redirect EU money directly to farmers.

"Gozo should not remain an afterthought. It should not remain a symbol of Malta's periphery but be on the same level as Malta," he said, highlighting that under the current system, EU funds destined for Gozo are limited by a broader Malta allocation, meaning there is no guarantee the island will receive the same amount from one funding package to the next.

He said a PN government would push for a dedicated funding package for the Gozitan region, giving the island greater certainty about its EU income.

On agriculture, Borg said Malta was among the lowest recipients of Pillar One EU agricultural funds, those that go directly to farmers, compared to other EU member states.

He pointed out that most of Malta's agricultural EU money currently falls under Pillar Two, which is allocated to the government before being disbursed. He said a PN government would lobby within the European Commission and Parliament to redirect agricultural funds towards Pillar One, putting money directly in farmers' hands.

He added that electricity meter charges for farmers would be scrapped entirely, and that electricity bills for the agricultural sector would fall by an average of 15%.

On the hospital, Borg said Gozitans had been waiting years for a serious investment in the Gozo General Hospital. He pledged a 400-bed facility and investment in a helipad, saying the absence of one created serious complications in emergencies for patients and their families.

Borg also said the ports of Mġarr and Ċirkewwa needed urgent expansion, not only to handle growing demand, describing Mġarr as having become "almost a symbol of chaos but also because expanding the fleet to five ferries would be impossible without first investing in port infrastructure.

He said a new passenger vessel and a dedicated cargo ferry would be introduced in the first legislature of a PN government, with the cargo ferry serving the Grand Harbour and eventually extending to the Freeport, easing traffic on Malta's roads.

He also said the new ferries would include a dedicated calming room for neurodivergent passengers, particularly children with conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, and autism, who he said often panicked on board and ended up avoiding the crossing altogether.

On EU funding for the ferry fleet, Borg said Malta was failing to make use of available funds such as Horizon, Connecting Europe, and other funds that other island regions across Europe were already drawing on to build cleaner fleets.

Borg also committed to building a breakwater in Marsalforn, saying that without it, the investment already made in the promenade was being undone season after season by storm damage. He pledged investment in 150 kilometres of arterial and principal roads across Gozo throughout the legislature, not just in the run-up to an election.

He closed by saying he believed Gozo's future should be written by Gozitans themselves, and that, as a Gozitan prime minister, he would make Gozo one of his highest priorities.