Infrastructure Malta has finally given Times of Malta a list of almost 1,400 roads it says it has fixed over the past six years, after initially turning down several requests for this information.
Last June, transport minister Chris Bonett had told parliament that the €700m project to fix all Malta’s roads was almost complete, with 1,315 roads having been rebuilt at the cost of over €634m.
But when asked for a list of the completed roads, together with their cost and a list of the 200 roads still pending, authorities turned down the request.
A freedom of information request was also turned down, with Infrastructure Malta saying that compiling the list would “substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the public authority from its other operations”.
But, just a few weeks later, Infrastructure Malta changed tack, sending Times of Malta an extensive list of roads it says it has completed so far. However it has not provided the cost of each road.
Almost 1,400 roads completed
According to the list, a little under 1,400 roads have been fixed since the project was launched in 2018.
The list contains the occasional bizarre anomaly.
One entry from Mtarfa reads “various parking proposals”, while another simply reads “Model Aircraft Premises”. There are also a couple of what appear to be duplicated entries and a handful of other roads that are listed without a locality.
But the overwhelming majority of roads listed appear to be residential and rural roads in Malta, with the list featuring more Triq San Pawls than you can shake a stick at.
Rabat tops the list, but Gozo is nowhere to be seen
The undisputed king of roadworks appears to be Rabat, with a staggering 116 roads fixed since 2018, an average of almost 20 a year.
While the questions about completed road works were put to the Transport Ministry, they were provided by Infrastructure Malta, which does not have responsiblity for Gozo's roads.
More broadly, Gozitan towns are conspicuously absent from the list. No roads in any of the major Gozitan villages, including Xgħara, Nadur, Għajnsielem and Għarb make the list.
Meanwhile, some of Malta’s most popular towns only have had a handful of roads fixed.
Only eight each of Sliema’s and Valletta’s roads make the list, with Gżira and Pietá boasting even fewer, at seven each.
Other busy towns, like Ħamrun, San Ġwann and St Julian’s all feature fewer than 20 roads each.
By contrast, some smaller villages have been inundated with roadworks in recent years.
Dingli, home to one-time infrastructure minister Ian Borg, has had 38 of its roads repaved, a handful fewer than Mġarr’s 42.
But they both pale in comparison to Siġġiewi, whose 62 repaved roads have given the quaint village a new face.