Updated 5:43pm with PL statement

The Nationalist Party has criticised the government for digging up around 30 roads simultaneously in St Paul’s Bay, describing it as symptomatic of a government without a plan.

At a press conference on Friday, Shadow Transport Minister Mark Anthony Sammut said the government was now forced to work on several roads at once after failing to invest properly in electricity distribution infrastructure over the years.

“This is causing great inconvenience to residents, the business community, tourists and motorists who have to keep finding alternative routes,” Sammut said.

“Infrastructure upgrades are desperately needed, but the fact that several roads have been dug up, resurfaced and dug up again shows the government does not have a holistic and long-term plan,” he added.

He listed seven roads in St Paul’s Pay, Buġibba and Qawra that had been dug up and resurfaced between 2019 and 2023 - before being dug up again.

“The government isn’t capable of coming up with a five-year plan for road infrastructure, let alone a 30-year plan for the entire country,” Sammut said.

Shadow Energy Minister Ryan Callus said the situation in St Paul’s Bay was due to government neglect of the country’s electricity distribution network.

“Ministries don’t know what the other ministries are doing. The finance minister should have a forecast of the country’s economic growth, while the minister responsible for immigration should be able to estimate how many people will come in,” Callus said.

Previous PN governments, Callus said, had followed long-term plans based on a clear vision for the country’s development, and a new Nationalist government would do the same when it regained the people’s trust.

St Paul’s Bay Mayor Censu Galea said the town’s population had “exploded” in recent years, so much so that the population of the area was 10,000 more than Gozo’s.

“This means the town’s electricity needs are great. We are not against the works being carried out, but we have to have reassurances that inconvenience to people and businesses is kept to a minimum,” he said.

“Aside from the electricity supply, there are several roads where the sewage system desperately needs to be replaced, so I appeal to the authorities to do these works at the same time."

'PN dishing out false information'

In a statement later on Friday, the Labour Party said the PN had called the press conference "to dish out false information".

It said the shadow ministers at the event "know the real facts, as does its PN St Paul's Bay mayor, who was kept informed on this matter."

The PL said the government was installing a new €6.4 million drainage system in addition to electricity works, adding the PN would be remembered for its "lack of proposals and fake news."