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James A. Tyrrell said:
This is so sad Patrick and unfortunately not an uncommon sight on Gozo. Like you folks I love the island and have been going there for years but it doesn’t help the tourist industry when things like this happen. It’s bad enough that developers seemingly with the help of authorities like Mepa are slowly destroying the environment but surely the least they could do is clean up after themselves.
The thing I can’t understand is why they seem hell bent on building more apartments and houses when the island is littered with empty properties, and properties in shell form. And every time you come across one of these properties it is being used as a dump. This really needs to be addressed as it is giving Gozo a bad name.
# 24 August 2008 at 1:12 am

Patrick Oonk said:
Dear James, what I find peculiar is that there seems to be no relation between demand and supply in the housing market. Also, the buying and renting prices seem to be completely decoupled. You can rent a property for only the price of what you would pay for the mortgage interest of that same property.
This bubble is bound to burst.
About tourism: I think people like Jon Mizzi from gozo.us… are trying to push things in the right direction, using Gozo’s strength in a sustainable way. I think he’s not alone.
Another thing, I can’t see the pictures that go with this article. What’s up?
# 24 August 2008 at 11:20 am

James A. Tyrrell said:
Hi Patrick, Yes I agree that the housing market is a bit on the strange side. Perhaps someone more expert on the subject could comment here but I believe that these empty or derelict properties are not charged rates. Perhaps if this were changed it would be an incentive to fix them up and either rent or sell them.
Yes there are indeed many good people on Gozo and John Mizzi is one of them, whose primary interest is in sustainable development. It will be interesting to see what comes of this ‘Eco Island’ initiative, if anything.
The pictures are showing up fine with me Patrick. Has the Moby Dick restaurant been rebuilt, as it was just a demolition site last year?
# 24 August 2008 at 4:53 pm

Patrick Oonk said:
It’s the plot behined the Moby Dick. The Moby DIck hasn’t ben demolished beyond what it already was
# 24 August 2008 at 9:59 pm

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