The Public Investments Ministry said yesterday that the low fares scheme on Gozo ferries is being extended to the end of June. The scheme, introduced in January to encourage more people to visit the sister island, has been judged a success. The ferries saw an increase of 3,248 passengers and 1,259 cars on cheaper trips. Two schemes are operated. The first, called Gozo Weekday Nights offers discounts of 75 per cent on passenger fares and 50 per cent for vehicles on trips between 7 p.m. and midnight Mondays to Thursday. Tickets are valid on the date of purchase but there is no return date restriction. The second scheme, Gozo Weekend Breaks, offers fares at half price on Fridays between noon and midnight. The first yielded an increase of 1,718 passengers and 643 vehicles while the one for the weekend saw traffic increase ... Read more...

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi paid a visit to Gozo yesterday and visited a number of factories and other infrastructural work in connection with Worker?s Day. The PM?s first visit was to Pamargan, a factory operating from the Xewkija Industrial Estate that manufactures hydraulic seals. In 10 years, it has expanded its operations from five to 125 workers and is expected to add 100 more in the next two-and-a-half years, with an investment of Lm500,000. Dr Gonzi also inspected work on the road between Rabat and San Lawrenz that is being funded by the EU, and an agro-tourism project in Marsalforn. For the duration of his visit, the Prime Minister was accompanied by Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono and Gozitan MP Frederick Azzopardi. The Prime Minister said that the government is conscious of the challenges faced by Gozo, which is, nevertheless, attracting investment. He ... Read more...

Alternattiva Demokratika will be doing its utmost to elect a member of Parliament in the next election even though tripartite talks on electoral reform have failed, chairman Harry Vassallo said yesterday. "The charade is over at long last and the Greens can now concentrate on getting to Parliament the hard way. We will make it no matter what the hurdles may be and we will show the other parties the sensitive and sophisticated democracy they are afraid of," he said. Tripartite talks, which had been started in the early 1990s culminating with the Gonzi report proposing a five per cent threshold in 1995, was re-embarked upon last year. But the Prime Minister on Wednesday served notice of a Bill to amend the Constitution so that Gozo will be declared a single electoral district, with the PN saying the Bill was moved after ... Read more...

The Prime Minister yesterday served notice of a Bill to amend the Constitution and the Nationalist Party said the idea was to declare Gozo a single electoral boundary. The PN said the Bill would be moved after all-party talks over the past year, aimed at improving the electoral system, failed to yield an agreement. It said the latest meeting was held on Tuesday evening. Michael Falzon, the Labour Party's deputy leader for party affairs, told Super One TV nobody had decided that the talks had been formally concluded. The MLP, he added, was in favour of Gozo being one single electoral district. However the PN wanted to use this as an excuse to change the electoral boundaries in Malta as well, in order to have a repetition of the 1996 election result when the MLP had won a majority of 8,000 votes ... Read more...

A 20-year-old Gozitan was charged yesterday with possession of ecstasy pills. These were found in circumstances that indicated they were not for his personal use. The youth, whose name cannot be published by court order, was charged with possession of 95 ecstasy pills on the night between 15 and 16 April. The Gozitan, who pleaded not guilty, was granted bail against a personal guarantee of Lm1,000. Police inspectors Dennis Theuma and Pierre Grech prosecuted. Dr Michael Sciriha appeared for the accused.

Gozo Channel will be providing special trips for the Malta International Fire-works Festival on Saturday and Sunday. A special trip will operate at 6.30pm on Saturday from Mgarr, Gozo to Grand Harbour. The same ferry will return to Gozo at 11.30pm. Return tickets are priced at Lm3. Other sea transport arrangements will be made available by Captain Morgan Cruises on both nights of the festival from the Sliema ferry at 7pm, returning from Valletta at 11.30pm. Tickets will cost 60c each way. Dghajsa trips from Senglea and Vittoriosa will also be available between 7pm and 8.45pm, with return trips from 11.30pm onwards from the Valletta Waterfront. Tickets for the dghajsa trips will cost Lm1 each way. The Public Transport Association will also be extending its public bus service from City Gate Valletta after the festival on both days, to all localities as ... Read more...

A commission has been set up to investigate the alleged physical and psychological abuse of minors in a home run by the Church in Gozo. The issue is scheduled to be discussed during the TV programme Bondiplus tonight. Gozo Bishop Mario Grech decided to take this action even though a report drawn up by a similar commission following an initiative by his predecessor Mgr Nikol Cauchi had concluded that the 1999 accusations were unfounded. In a statement, Mgr Grech said he had set up the commission for a number of reasons, one being that Church agencies may assist the persons who allegedly suffered the abuse. The commission will also make sure that the previous report in 1999 left no stone unturned and will allow anybody to come forward with fresh evidence. The commission, chaired by Judge Victor Caruana Colombo, is made up of lawyer ... Read more...

Fifty years ago, the Leone Philharmonic Society, in Victoria, donated the statue of Santa Marija to the Gozo cathedral in an event that will be re-enacted on Saturday. According to former Leone Philharmonic Society secretary Edward Grech this was more than a simple donation, however. On April 29, 1956, the statue, accompanied by the Leone Band, departed from the band club in Archpriest Saviour Cassar Street and was welcomed by Bishop Giuseppi Pace and the Cathedral Chapter in Sabina Square, which was jam-packed with people from all over the island. Mr Grech described the event as one that he remembers to the last detail. He also highlighted the problems the band club encountered trying to persuade Bishop Pace to approve of the Leone Band accompanying the statue in a procession every August 15, starting from ... Read more...

A cruise liner berthed for the first time ever in Gozo yesterday morning in a drive to promote the island as a tourist destination in its own right. Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech welcomed the Seabourn Pride's maiden call in Gozo, saying the visit links perfectly with his ministry's policy of widening and diversifying the tourism product. During a visit on board the ship, berthed off Xlendi, Dr Zammit Dimech said that Gozo is being promoted as a major tourism segment, and a niche location for cruise liners. The minister said that in this year's budget speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi promised that this year the government would hold discussions with the operators to explore how cruise liners could be brought to Gozo. Through its Malta Cruise Services, Mifsud Brothers Ltd managed to bring over to Gozo ... Read more...

Government has given instructions to the Board of Directors of The Gozo Channel Company to extend the "Gozo Winter Nights" and the "Gozo Winter Weekend" breaks schemes. These two schemes, which were launched in January this year, will be extended up to the end of June. With the "Gozo Winter Nights" scheme, passengers benefit from a 75 per cent discount on the passenger fares and a 50 per cent discount on the car-plus-driver fare, when the scheme is applicable. Those who avail themselves of the "Gozo Winter Weekend Break" scheme benefit from a 50 per cent discount on the fares when they purchase tickets between noon and midnight on Friday. In the meantime, Gozo Channel has carried a record 215,600 passengers in the last three weeks. If one compares the three weeks ending on Easter Sunday this year to the ... Read more...