Council action on Marsascala pavements

I refer to comments on Marsascala made in the On The Dot of February 1, wherein unsubstantiated criticism was made about the locality's pavements and an outward extension of a part of the pavement in Triq il-Gardiel.

The facts are that kilometres of new pavements have been laid in Marsascala and that if some of them are "littered" with dogs' excrement, it is not the fault of the local council as we have placed several dogs' litter bins, especially along the promenade.

I cannot deny that although so many new pavements have been completed, there are still many streets which need new pavements, but surely the correspondent understands and appreciates that our locality is new, expanding and developing by the day, so there are always new streets to be asphalted and new pavements to be laid.

As for the pavement's outward extension in Triq tal-Gardiel, the facts are the following: The owner of the building referred to applied to Mepa for this extension way back in 2003 when I was not even serving as mayor. Works on this ugly and unwanted extension started in December 2009, six years later. As soon as works began, I stopped them and protested to ADT and Mepa officially and insisted that such an extension was not only an eyesore but a hindrance to the smooth flow of traffic in such a busy road. ADT is also against such an extension and even the police authorities are worried about it.

I also sent a protest to the owner's architect. The extension was stopped by the council and that is why works have been left half-baked. We are now waiting for Mepa to take all the necessary action.

Let us all hope that Mepa considers the residents' interests first and rescinds its permit and orders the owner to restore the pavement to its original dimensions.