Government failing to deliver roadwork promises - PL

Speaking in Gudja on Friday, Labour MP and local councils spokesperson Stefan Buontempo and infrastructure spokesperson Charles Buhagiar accused government of not delivering on promises to carry out essential roadworks.

Buontempo said that in the past, government had promised that a number of roadworks around the island would be completed by 2006.

Not only were the works promised not carried but government had ‘postponed’ the promises to 2008. Yet again, over 50% of the promised roadworks still not carried out, he said.

He said that one such road, Triq Hal Resqun in Gudja, was only having its road resurfaced following the local council taking the initiative and doing the works at its own expense.

Some Gudja residents, he said, had been waiting for over 30 years for the works to take place.

He also hit out at Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt, referring to a statement he made days ago in Tarxien where he promised that a number of roads would be resurfaced by 2012.

He said that the respecting local councils were not even informed, or involved, in his visits. “Is this the level of cooperation the government wants to encourage” Buontempo asked.

During his own address, Buhagiar said that despite how the Public Private Partnership (PPP) road resurfacing project supposedly provided local councils with the funds to carry out resurfacing works, infrastructure works are creating an impasse.

Buhagiar explained that this was because to Transport Malta is refusing to grant permission to contractors to begin road works because of necessary infrastructure works that would need to be carried out as part of the works.

However, local council funding only covers re-surfacing works, Buhagiar said. He called on government to extend the funding awarded to councils through the PPP scheme to resolve this impasse.

Gudja Mayor John Mary Calleja said that this road was one that was promised for surfacing, yet was never done. He said that the road, 170m in length, cost the local council as much as €70,000 in surfacing works, he said.