GSD hits back at Govt’s ‘wild, angry’ outburst on heritage

The GSD on Monday said it hopes to be given the opportunity to offer “the leadership and fresh energy” required to put Gibraltar “back on track in the heritage and linked tourist field, just as much as we wish to do in other areas”.

In a statement, the party said that the Government “simply lacks the humility to acknowledge the obvious and palpable failings which Gibraltar is so clearly labouring under”, adding that it “needs to be replaced”.

The Opposition was responding to the Gibraltar Government who last week defended its record on heritage and accused the GSD of being “out of touch”, adding that Heritage was not just a “numbers game”.

But the GSD said the Government “had indulged in a wild rant and angry outburst” in response to criticism of neglect of the heritage sites and Gibraltar as a whole “without adding much to the debate”.

“In doing so they have singularly failed to address and conveniently side-step one of the central planks of the GSD’s criticisms which focuses on the abandonment of many of our sites and heritage assets,” the GSD said.

“Parson’s Lodge and Moorish Castle are in a particular state of neglect, for example.”

“To, at this stage of this Government’s time in office, talk of plans progressing to restore parts of Moorish Castle for cultural use without offering any detail smacks of weak and defensive posturing.”

For his part, the GSD’s spokesman for Heritage, Damon Bossino, said: “That the Government is only able to produce a Consultation Paper with what it describes as a ‘new’ vision for Gibraltar’s heritage in the dying days of its third term in office and seek to impress with a long and dubious list of supposed achievements speaks volumes of their lack of direction, drive and purpose in this area.”

“Gibraltar needs more than words, it needs action and investment.”

“Gibraltar deserves more than mere declarations of objectives which amount to little more than virtue-signalling wish lists lacking in a firm budgeted commitment to preservation and results.”

The party added in the statement: “In a ditching of their mantra that they would ‘play the ball and not the man’, the Government has dedicated most of their reply to personally attack Mr Bossino.”

“The GSD does not propose to do the same to [Dr John] Cortes – when they go low, we go high.”