City Gate works to be ready by December
Investments minister Austin Gatt announced that the Valletta City Gate Project will be ready by December, six months ahead schedule.
Addressing the media on the four years of work during the current legislature , investments minister Austin Gatt this morning announced that the Valletta City Gate Project is expected to be ready by next December, six months ahead of schedule.
However, Gatt said that the new Parliament building is on schedule and is expected to be completed next year., while the lift at the Upper Barrakka is also on schedule and will be completed before the end of the year.
He also announced that the road network reconstruction between Marsa and the Malta International Airport will be re-opened next month, after months of intensive works. He also said that the Mellieha bypass would reopen by the end of the year.
During the press conference held at Xatt L-Ghassara in Marsa, Austin Gatt said that Transport Malta has completed the surfacing or re-surfacing of a record 400 residential roads during the current legislature.
Also, Gatt announced that works on the restoration and regeneration of Fort St. Elmo are to start next week. He admitted however, that work on the former Drydocks Dock One have fallen back and been delayed.
Asked by MaltaToday whether he was to stay on as minister in the wake of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's invitation last January to head the PN's electoral campaign, Gatt laughed it off and said: "the election is still a long way off."
About public transport reform and the advent of Arriva, Austin Gatt said that according to regular surveys conducted by Transport Malta, "75% of commuters have said they are satisfied or very satisfied with the service."
He also said that by the end of May, "all Arriva buses will be operating with Euro5 engines."
Asked on the development of Smart City, Gatt said "I would have liked to see more people employed at this stage however we cannot ignore the recession which hit the world during the last years."
Gatt added that €62 million have already been invested in the project and infrastructural works were now in an advanced stage.