A mayor has complained about a lack of information and respect towards both the council and residents after being kept in the dark over works being carried out on two roads in the locality.
The Naxxar council was not informed about the planned roadworks let alone consulted about them, mayor Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami said.
“Residents came to the council to ask me what’s happening and we have to tell them that we do not know. How embarrassing it that? And the information I need I got from you, which goes to show how you are respected more than the mayor,” she said when contacted.
Describing this as lack of respect towards councils, the mayor said it was also disrespectful towards residents who were asking about work going on their street only to be told by the council that it had no information.
She said she had been chasing information about what work was being undertaken in Trejqet l-Iklin and Triq il-Forġa but had received no replies.
A spokesman for Infrastructure Malta did not reply when asked why the council had not been consulted.
He did explain that work on Trejqet l-Iklin was connected to the Tal-Balal project, which had now been completed, while Triq il-Forġa was one of the first 120 streets under reconstruction this year as part of the seven-year, €700 million investment to upgrade Malta’s residential roads.
Tal-Balal works update
Triq tal-Balal, the arterial road between Naxxar and San Ġwann, was completed earlier this month and Infrastructure Malta has now begun work on upgrading two approach roads in either of these towns. The road is being re-designed to increase efficiency.
In San Ġwann, the two-lane road between the roundabout near Juniors and that between Vjal ir-Rihan and Triq Bella-vista (near Solo Optical) is being widened to four lanes, a spokesman said.
Residents came to the council to ask me what’s happening and we have to tell them that we do not know. How embarrassing it that?
The roundabout near Vjal ir-Rihan will be made safer and there will be new parking spaces for residents and businesses.
In Naxxar, Infrastructure Malta is upgrading the roundabout near Valyou supermarket and the short stretch of road connecting it to the roundabout at the beginning of Triq tal-Balal, corner with Triq Margaret Murray.
The Triq il-Parrocca roundabout is being improved to facilitate safer access to and from Naxxar and to Triq Leli Falzon, which extends across Naxxar towards the Lija cemetery.
One side of part of Triq Leli Falzon is being widened to be in line with its schemed alignments, as indicated in the area’s Local Plan.
These works, including the modification of Trejqet l-Iklin to provide improved access to Triq Leli Falzon, are being carried out within the existing and schemed road footprints.
The spokesman said that some of the work had to be carried out from an adjacent field since a retaining wall was needed to consolidate the road structure and to rebuild Trejqet L-Iklin without disrupting the flow of vehicles.
The field will be reinstated to its previous condition once works are done.
He said Infrastructure Malta was planning to complete this upgrade in October.
With regard to Triq il-Forġa, the spokesman said this will be reconstructed to be in line with applicable residential road widths and a new footpath will be added along the side of the road.