Labour decries 'mismanagement' inside Gozo ministry

Labour MP and Opposition spokesperson for Gozo Anton Refalo has claimed that projects and works which need to be done in Gozo accommodate the needs of the contractors rather than those of the Gozitans.

Talking about a number of projects which have not been completed despite the original completion date as announced by Debono has elapsed, Refalo said: “Delays in the completion of Gozo’s projects has become a chronic disease of Lawrence Gonzi’s government.” 

Outlining eight different projects, Refalo said: “A classical example is the Xlendi road where works started five years later than planned and which to date has not yet been completed.”

Refalo referred to the Gozo abattoir which was closed in 2004 due to lack of conformity with EU regulations. “Government had said it would be reopened after six months, but to date is still closed.”

He then refers to the Tourism Studies Institute in Qala, which had to be a boarding school. “Although the institute was inaugurated in 2009, not all work is yet finished, with only two full-time courses and three part-time courses available.”

He also spoke of the Wistin Camilleri Centre in Ghajnsielem which was inaugurated in 2008, two years after the due date, and in which “only three out of the 10 workshops” are being used.

Refalo said the road which connects Rabat to San Lawrenz is not yet completed, despite promises to be finished by 2006 and “the million euro” which the contractor has been paid.

Refalo goes on to mention the Villa Rundle project to which the Gozo Ministry has asked for a time extension; the improvement of the operations hall in Gozo’s hospital which was supposed to be completed in March 2010; the Żewwieqa project which was planned to be finished by 2011, but to which the contract has not yet been signed:

“This contract is valued at €4 million,” Refalo said. “But before it is signed it looks like they are waiting for the contractors to finish the work they currently have in hand.”

Refalo however stops short of mentioning who the contractors - “the Ministry’s close friends” – are.