Update: Government still facing backlog of roadworks from 2008

Buhagiar said that in the last legislature, the government had promised that 454 roads would be done by the end of 2008. “Only 56% of the promised roads have been done, and this only a year and a half later then the promised date.”

Buhagiar said that the roads were chosen upon political criteria, were 65% of the promised roads were in Nationalist local councils, whilst 48% of road construction had been carried out in councils with Labour majorities.

“In his statement, parliamentary secretary Chris Said did not mention that a substantial part of the roads will be financed by Councils’ funds (€5.2 milion) and they form part of a roads program which all councils carry out through the year,” Buhagiar said, adding that the government will, through a €7 million public private partnership, be only financing the roads’ surface and will not be giving any help to the construction of pavements or the work done to infrastructural services.

“In other words, the Government’s scheme will increase the local councils’ financial burdens for work which should have already been done by the central government,” Buhagiar said.

In a reaction, Said said that between 2008 and 2011, works will have been finalised on 922 residential roads. In 2009, he said, local councils were given €5 million for works in 160 roads, and last week 448 projects were announced in 47 towns, totalling €13.5 million. "The Opposition has only in mind to confuse peoples' minds and invent wrong figures."