Gozo

Besides welcoming Sean Connery, tens of illegal immigrants and the MV Malita, the people in Gozo had a rather busy year full of newsy stories. MaltaMedia’s Gozo correspondent Pierre J. Mejlak brushes through his 2002 diary and finds out what made headlines in Gozo this year.

February

22: A 79-year-old spinster from Xaghra, Maria Attard, was found dead in an artesian well. The autopsy on the body gave clear indications that Attard was strangled, causing a cardio-respiratory failure and a cardiac arrest. After carrying out an on-site inquiry at her home in a bid to find any clues related to her death, the Police found her house in perfect order. Not even one fingerprint was collected from the scene.

26: Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami slammed the idea of having Gozo administered by a regional set-up. The request was part of a declaration signed by Gozitan Local Councils, the Gozo Tourism Association and the Gozo Business Chamber.

March

4: Gozo welcomed 208 boat people who disembarked in Xlendi Bay. The illegal immigrants confirmed that their boat had left Libya a few days earlier. The group was made-up of 128 men, 42 women and 38 children coming from Eritrea, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sudan, Morocco and Iraq.

9: Four Local Council elections took place in Gozo. The number of Gozitans who casted their vote increased when compared to the same elections three years earlier. The highest increase was registered in Nadur and Xewkija with 5%. The highest turnout in Gozo, 85%, was registered in Ghasri.

12: The Gozo Business Chamber insisted with the Prime Minister that Gozo’s administration needs a more regional-approach. “This is not the opinion of an individual but is a collective declaration," the GBC told the Prime Minister, who had already rejected the idea.

14: Eleven illegal immigrants of Tunisian and Libyan nationality were arrested in Gozo. The immigrants are thought to have entered Mgarr harbour, Gozo, early in the morning, disembarked and abandoned their vessel. The boat was later found by some fishermen outside the harbour and towed back in.

25: The third and final vessel of the new Gozo Channel fleet started operating between Malta and Gozo, following an inauguration and naming ceremony at the Mgarr ferry terminal. Built by the Malta Shipbuilding on the same specifications of the previous two vessels, the MV Malita is equipped with a hoistable deck, which will raise its vehicle capacity from 80 to 150. This added feature has proved to be of significant importance during peak crossing periods and the summer months.

April

7: A new memorial was inaugurated in Mgarr, Gozo in honour of all Gozitan emigrants who left their country to live in a foreign land.

17: The Malta Tourism Authority started running a large-scale advertising campaign in Germany in an effort to promote Gozo as a distinct element of the Maltese tourism offer. The MTA set up some 2,000 billboards in various locations in Germany.

24: Malta's quest to find the elusive black gold resumed with the commencement of drilling of a new exploratory well, 14 nautical miles northwest of Gozo. Geographically, this well, dubbed Lampuko-1 did not lie far from the Madonna Taz-Zejt well that had been drilled in Kercem, Gozo. That well was arguably the one that had shown most potential since oil exploration started in Malta. Like Madonna Taz-Zejt, Lampuko-1 was also being drilled by the Italian energy giant, Eni SpA.

May

9: Minister for Gozo, Giovanna Debono, participated in the 22nd Conference of the Islands Commission within the CPMR, held in Orkney, Scotland. Minister Debono intervened on two occasions, both concentrating on the strengthening of co-operation between the island members.

22: The Steering Committee set up by Government to co-ordinate a study assigned by the European Commission to highlight the special needs of the island of Gozo, met Gozo’s leading organizations to discuss a draft of the study.

31: The Federation of European Carnival Cities (FECC) decided to organize its 25th International Convention at Nadur, Gozo in 2005. Nadur Mayor Dr Chris Said was in Poland to officially present Nadur's bid to host the Silver Jubilee FECC Convention. Croatia and Tunisia had also presented their bid to host the convention.

31: “The Island of Gozo Country Walks”, a project developed by the Ministry for Gozo, the Ministry of Tourism, the Malta Tourism Authority and the Gozo Tourism Association was launched to encourage more tourists to visit Gozo for a special walking-holiday.

June

17: Gozo's Bishop Mgr Nicholas Cauchi left Malta for a short visit to Brazil. The visit was part of the activities organized to celebrate the golden jubilee of his ordination.

18: Malta's Employment and Training Corporation launched a strategy aimed to increase job opportunities in Gozo. The strategy highlights areas which could be further developed in Gozo.

24: The drilling of the oil well Lampuko 1 in the North-West of Gozo by Italian company Eni SpA revealed a presence of gas, but it was not commercially viable to exploit. The well was bottomed at a depth of 4115 metres.

July

4: The 5th edition of the Victoria International Arts Festival kicked off at St George's Basilica.
The festival included 16 Concerts, 11 Masterclasses and 3 Competitions.

8: A Maltese youngster, 23-year-old Daniel Mamo from Pembroke died tragically while diving in Dwejra. Civil Protection Department divers found Mamo’s body trapped amongst the rocks of an underwater cave at a depth of 30 meters.

9: The Malta Environment and Planning Authority said it received requests to allocate around 4.3 square kilometres of rural land in Gozo for development. The area is equivalent to twice the size of Comino.

21: A 76-year-old Gozitan priest, who has been living in America for the last years, was found dead at Dahlet Qorrot Bay in Nadur. Two fishermen noted the man floating lifeless early in the morning.

August

11: The Gozo Business Chamber urged Malta's negotiating team in Brussels to make it a point that Gozo gets sufficient and appropriate funds from the European Union, once Malta becomes a full-member. The Chamber said the government should not wait until Malta joins the EU but should increase its financial aid for Gozo in the coming budget.

18: The University Gozo Centre marked its tenth anniversary

19: Scottish actor Sean Connery arrived in Gozo for his latest movie "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Filming took place at Xlendi Bay and at Gozo’s Sports Complex.

23: The first edition of the Gozo Folk Festival "Ghanja ta' Karolina" attracted a crowd of people in Xlendi.

20: Rina Attard, who gave birth to two conjoined-twins two years ago, gave birth to a baby girl at the Gozo General Hospital. Rina and her husband Michelangelo christened their daughter Rosie, in memory of Gracie's twin-sister.

September

3: The unique setting of the Gozo Citadel was transformed into an enchanting theatre of arts, culture and history. The eight-day "Cittadella 2002 - Gozo Arts Festival” offered a bonanza of cultural activities, including a number classical concerts.

11: Seventy-one-year-old Guzeppi Farrugia from Victoria and John Attard, 56 from Xaghra, were arraigned in the Court of Gozo and charged with the murder of warden Fortunata Spiteri. The murder took place on August 10th, 2001. Police Commissioner John Rizzo told the Court that both men had confessed to the murder during questioning at the Police General Headquarters.

22: The Gozo Channel sold the SES Victoria Express catamaran to Gambia-based Pleasure Sports Gambia Ltd. The Gozo Channel Company had decided not to use the catamaran, as it wasn't cost-effective.

22: Sixty-five illegal immigrants landed at Mgarr ix-Xini. The boat people, all male, came from Iraq, Sierra Leone and Palestine. This clandestine landing triggered a combined search operation on land and by sea involving various sections of the police and the Armed Forces of Malta.

October

26: As part of the festivities marking the 25th Anniversary of Opera in Gozo, the Leone Philharmonic Society staging Puccini's masterpiece Turandot, at the Aurora Opera Theatre.
The Leone Philharmonic society entered the operatic field twenty-five years ago, when the opera Madame Butterfly, penned by the same composer, was staged.

30: For the second consecutive year the Ministry for Gozo organised the Festival for European Island Cultures. This cultural festival was originally proposed during the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions (CPMR) in 1999.

November

4: All Gozitan Local Councils were called to discuss the setting up of a new waste transfer station to be built in the area linking Ghajnsielem to Xewkija. An environmental impact assessment is currently being drawn up. Household waste will soon start being compressed into sealed containers in the new transfer station.

6: Around 120 Italian politicians, European MP's and Malta's highest authorities started discussed the Italo-Maltese Twinnings in the light of EU enlargement in the Mediterranean. The Nadur Local Council and the Italian Local Councils' and Regions' Association organized the conference.

16: A boat with 113 illegal immigrants on board was spotted two nautical miles off Gozo. The immigrants, 74 males, 14 females and 25 children, including three babies, were immediately arrested.

16: The Gozo Animal Sanctuary Association was launched to protect the many abandoned animals in Gozo. The Association is aiming to set up an animal shelter for all abandoned animals.

17: Almost 85% of the people who voted in the Qala-referendum expressed their wish to keep Hondoq ir-Rummien Bay development-free. Gozo Prestige Holidays had proposed to transform an old quarry next to Hondoq ir-Rummien into a 5-star hotel, yacht marina and tourist complex.
Seventy-four per cent of all Qala residents voted in a consultative referendum organized by their Local Council.

22: The first edition of Gozo's Mediterranea festival kicked off at Victoria's Teatru Astra with the staging of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Un Ballo in Maschera.

December

6: Thirty-one-year-old Ronnie Vella was sent to 30 years in jail after being found guilty of murdering his wife Jane by pushing her off a cliff in Munxar, Gozo on December 4th 1999. The jury found Vella guilty by eight votes to one. It was the first time in Malta that a person was found guilty of wilful homicide, while the victim was still missing.

12: A Gozo Youth Congress took place for the first time in Gozo. The Grupp Universitarji Ghawdxin (GUG) welcomed some 110 delegates from all walks of life to discuss issues related to young people in Gozo.