The Central Link road works project to upgrade roads linking Mrieħel to Rabat was winning over people who had previously disparaged it, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg told parliament on Wednesday. 

Borg was speaking as MPs debated the budget allocations for the Ministry of Transport and the Infrastructure.

Shadow transport minister Toni Bezzina criticised the government at length over its infrastructural projects. 

The PN MP said fertile land was being taken up for road widening to meet current needs without proper planning for the future. Furthermore, road works were often being carried out without proper planning for traffic diversions, causing congestion and traffic jams. A case in point were works on the arterial road at Burmarrad.

Bezzina complained that some roads were being dug up soon after being resurfaced. He suggested that service ducts be built to avoid having road surfaces ruined by new works. 

He welcomed rules to regulate the use of scooters, but said such regulations should not be designed to discourage their use. 

The Nationalist MP also questioned the quality of work in some areas, saying road works were being carried out with undue haste, as shown by the expansion joints at the Marsa project and road works at Mellieha bypass, where rainwater drains were forgotten and tarmac had warped. In Valletta Road, Luqa, a pothole developed after a few weeks. There was also flooding in a new arterial road near Mqabba.  

Bezzina noted that the government was carrying out a study on a mass transport system. The PN had been proposing such a system for years, and been ridiculed for it, he recalled. 

Referring to COVID-19, the Nationalist MP expressed concern that social distancing was not being observed on buses.

On the construction industry, Bezzina said new regulations for health and safety of workers and neighbours were half-hearted and that there was confusion about roles and responsibilities on building sites.

Ian Borg and Robert Abela inaugurate the first section of the Central Link project. Photo: DOI/Pierre Sammut

Had an original 2019 reform been carried out properly, the Ħamrun tragedy (where Miriam Pace was killed when her house collapsed) may not have happened. The Opposition was therefore continuing to insist on an inquiry into whether the government could have avoided that tragedy. 

Bezzina expressed concerns about planned amendments to the law regulating engineers, including the definition of ‘engineer’. “In terms of what was being proposed, everyone could call himself an engineer,” he warned.
 
It was good to "get things done" Bezzina said, quoting the slogan used by minister Ian Borg. But it was better to "get things done well."  

Other speakers in the debate were Nationalist MPs Kevin Cutajar and David Agius,  Labour MP Joe Mizzi and parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius. 

Oil rigs eyesore in Grand Harbour

Mizzi complained that oil rigs had been berthed in Grand Harbour for years, creating an eyesore. The time has come for the authorities to responsibly take decisions for this situation to be regulated.

Did the dockyard have a right to have such rigs there? If it did, he felt such rigs should still be banned in Grand Harbour, except possibly in Marsa at the old shipbuilding site, he said. 

Mizzi said he also looked forward to a successful outcome of efforts to rid Rinella Bay of the inconveniences created by the tank cleaning farm.

Ian Borg talks up road works plans  

Concluding the debate, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg said infrastructural development was a government success and it was changing the face of the country for everyone’s benefit.

He said the people had backed the government’s decision to take over responsibility for the resurfacing of all the roads, and his appeal to all mayors was to follow permits issued by the authorities rather than claim they were not informed about works. 

On criticism of the Marsa project, the minister said work on the expansion joints would be ready soon and shadow minister Bezzina could certify them himself. 

He said the Central Link project was winning praise by former detractors.

He also highlighted work on the Malta National Park at Ta’ Qali, saying it was doubling recreational space for families, replacing a former concrete factory. There would also be 80,000 new trees in the national park. 

The minister spoke on various budget measures to encourage the use of environment-friendly vehicles, including lower circulation tax for small motorcycles and cheaper licences for those only using their car on weekends. 

On new mass transport systems, Borg said the sad fact was that nothing about this was done in the past, contrary to, say Singapore, which gained independence at the same time as Malta. The government had completed reports on mass transport systems and was considering viability issues, he said.

He said an announcement would be made in the coming weeks on ways how the harbours would be improved, including Grand Harbour. In this context, he hoped a solution would be reached to rid Grand Harbour of tank cleaning facilities.    

On accidents at construction sites, Borg said work would continue to reform the sector to avoid as many accidents as possible. A new authority to regulate the sector would be announced soon and he hoped an agreement would be reached about it with the opposition.