Gżira residents, the locality's mayor and other politicians gathered in protest on Monday over prolonged works on a prominent street. 

Residents and business owners of Triq Manoel De Vilhena have endured months of dust, noise and uneven pathways.

The refurbishment of infrastructure and repaving of the road was scheduled to start in March 2022 but works began months later, in October.

On Monday dozens of residents gathered on the dusty Gżira road that remains unfinished.

"People are suffering. The elderly are unable to walk down the street even with the aid of walking sticks, and I often get calls that some have tripped on the uneven ground and suffered injuries," Mayor Conrad Borg Manche said.

The outspoken PL mayor said that news of a young girl who developed asthma since roadworks began sparked his call to protest. 

"It doesn't matter if you are a Nationalist or a Labourite: everyone on this street is suffering," he lamented.

"This is another sign that Gżira residents have been abandoned. I hate to say it because I am speaking about my own party, but it is true," Borg Manche said. 

The mayor said that Gżira residents have also had to contend with a garbage problem and had to fight to save a garden from being turned into a petrol station.

Present among those who turned up for the protest were PN MPs Graham Bencini, Eve Borg Bonello, David Agius, and Graziella Attard Previ.

ADPD leader Sandra Gauci was also present.

Resident Mark Vella also addressed the crowd.

The 63-year-old said he was looking into relocating elsewhere because of the amount of dust and uneven road surface. 

"I fell a few times trying to get to the pharmacy," he said, questioning why residents were being "treated like cockroaches".