Street works in Sliema cause hardship to elderly

Residents in St Vincent Street, Sliema yesterday called The Times to complain about the "disastrous" state of their road, which is causing hardship to the elderly and worsening their already difficult parking situation.

The road, which runs for about 1,500 metres from the Strand to High Street, is being completely reconstructed on the initiative of the local council. Works by Polidano Group had started at the beginning of March.

The residents said they appreciated that the council had decided to reconstruct their road, but could not understand why it had to take over three months for the work to be completed.

Claudia Taylor-East, who lives in St Vincent Street, said that she had been abroad for over a month and had expected to find the road tarmacked when she returned.

"The worst thing was seeing a Zammit Clapp Hospital van trying to reverse down the bumpy road in an attempt to reach one of the elderly residents. They had to carry her out with the wheelchair too," she said.

"We appreciate what the local council is doing, but why does it have to take so long - it has been such an inconvenience," Ms Taylor-East said.

Another resident, Josephine Leon, said that trying to park in the area for the past three months had been worse than ever.

Theresa Medati, too, highlighted the grave problems that the elderly in the streets were facing and said that neighbours had to help them cross the road and enter their homes safely.

"The dust and dirt from the works have also aggravated the hayfever of my children. We appreciate that something is being done, but what is keeping the contractors from laying the tarmac?" she asked.

Ms Medati also had her car towed last week because she parked in a reserved space. Trying to park close to home was impossible.

Doreen Busuttil also vented her frustration and said that apart from her own inconvenience, the elderly were the worse-off.

"Over three quarters of the residents are elderly. What has bothered all of us is the length of time it has taken - I mean let`s face it, it`s not a highway," she said.

Other residents also complained that there were days when there were no workmen in sight.

Joseph Borg said he had not seen any workers on the site since Friday. He pointed out that an unbuilt site at the corner with St Lawrence Street was quickly becoming a rubbish dump because a high boundary wall which was demolished because of the road works was only replaced by a low wall.

When contacted Sliema council mayor Robert Arrigo said that the works were on schedule and the road was expected to be tarmacked within 10 days to two weeks.

"The perception of residents is that if they don`t see workmen they think nothing is happening, but it`s in the interest of the contractor to complete the work on time, because he only gets paid when the job is finished," Mr Arrigo said.

Mr Arrigo admitted that the works were an inconvenience for residents, but St Vincent Street was quite a long road and the work had to be done.

Council secretary Joe Stafrace said that residents had to understand that reconstructing a road from scratch took time and money - in all the works on this street will cost about Lm40,000.

"We have changed the water mains and house connections which were over 100 years old. Apart from that, we had to wait three weeks for laboratory tests on the water from the health department," Mr Stafrace said.

The council had also ensured that all the pavements were changed. Some had been destroyed by cars that were forced to drive over them to pass through the narrow, winding road.

In places the pavement was also narrowed to ensure the free flow of traffic.

"All the services were changed, and the inspection chambers and drainage system were checked and repaired if they were leaking. All this work was financed by the council and the residents did not have to fork out a penny," he said.

Meanwhile, the residents are hoping that their nightmare will soon come to an end, as promised, within days.