Credibility being worn away

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said: “I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.” This very aptly applies to the present administration’s lack of good governance and transparency, which has eroded its credibil

And whatever degree of trust the electorate still had in it must have evaporated with the latest ‘scandal’ involving the GWU in connection with the jobless scheme, which will leave the same GWU better off with something like €8.5m from our taxes.

This report, which can be easily accessed through the NSO website, clearly confirms that the government has failed in the most prominent of its electoral promises to the Gozitans: to create jobs for Gozitans in Gozo. In 2015, the number of Gozitans commuting to work in Malta amounted to 2,768 – an increase of 668 from the 2,100 commuters in 2013 onwards.

Another important conclusion from this report that deserves attention is that, on average, one out of every five employed people resident in Gozo works in Malta. This highlights the fact that Gozo and the Gozitans are dependent on the Maltese economy but are not an integral part of it. Gozo deserves to be a mainstream in the national economy.

A few weeks ago, the first of a series of regional employment statistics was published by the NSO. This uncovers a reality that this government has been trying to hide – deceiving people with the impression of a feel-good factor and the cliché of a growing economy, which also applies to Gozo.

The report underlines the fact that the size of the workforce in the Gozitan private sector has been falling since 2013 – the main reason being the scheme that has recently been in the news. Genuine Gozitans are being deceived: they are being promised that if they leave the private sector and participate in this scheme in the run-up to the next election, they will be given a permanent job in the public sector. In other words, Gozitan workers are being enticed to give up better-paid jobs in the private sector and opt for the minimum wage under this scheme.

The blame here cannot be put on the Gozitans, as it is their right to strive for jobs with better conditions and wages. The reality of the Gozitan economy is that it has a small private sector and this restricts job mobility, thus the blame is with the government, which has failed to create the right opportunities for the Gozitans in Gozo.

The success of the Gozitan economy should not be measured by the number of people crossing the channel – the vast majority of whom are Gozitans commuting to work – but by the number of high valueadded careers created in Gozo for those who would like to work in Gozo, irrespective of whether they are Gozitan or Maltese.

Gozitans deserve equal opportunities and equal work and living standards, and this call is not only one of social justice but a sine qua non for national development. Investment in Gozo is investment in Malta; a future for Gozo is a future for Malta.

The report further shows that the largest employer in the private sector in Gozo is the wholesale and retail trade, confirming that the Nationalist Party’s vision to revitalise this sector with a number of proposals through the Policy for Retailers document is a vision that reflects Gozo’s needs and ambitions.

The current small private sector in Gozo shows the need for an increase in incentives to encourage the expansion of operations and new start-ups. With the right framework of incentives, including a next generation taxation philosophy, the correct mindset and a political entrepreneur, Gozo has the opportunity to become a niche for start-ups and one of the best places in which to live – not only in Europe but also in the world.

It should be kept in mind that Gozo is another centre of our national life; it is not only one of the 13 electoral districts but is also a distinct region in a culturally rich archipelago.

I firmly believe in an economy for the people and not for numbers. If we invest in our people, the numbers will grow sustainably, but if we consider people as numbers, the result will be a zero sum game in which our country will have lost its moral fibre, social conscience and any ethical consideration.