A greater future for Gozo's golden quarries

Abstract

Gozo has population of just under 30,000 and welcomes about 430,000 tourists a year. They come to enjoy the historic antique sights of this beautiful agricultural island with its Roman farming terraces and the traditional style architecture built in glorious glowing golden blocks. Tourism for Gozo, like Malta itself, is a major industry with the marvellous prospect of further expansion and, as the facilities grow more sophisticated, great increases in revenue to the island from the visitors. So, the priorities are keeping the island lovely, retaining agriculture, and for both residents and tourists keeping the buildings in the antique traditional style. To do this the quarries must continue profitably providing those marvellous golden blocks of soft limestone. The quarries are essential to the scheme of keeping Gozo beautiful, comfortable, attractive and profitable. However some people feel the naked cliff faces of the quarries spoil the panorama. There are clouds of dust, thousands of tons of ugly waste stone, offcuts and rejects. The dust is further moved around in large noisy trucks traveling without covered sheeting, ruining the roads and providing for every new or extended building an unwelcome cloud of dust which destabilizes the street until completion.