I read with much interest David Demajo’s article on potholes (‘We are to blame’, April 26).

He might be comforted by the fact that this problem is not peculiar to Malta, it exists all around south Manchester. Usually, it is the side roads that suffer but there have been cases in the past where a main road collapsed. The reason was simple: poor backfilling. When roads are dug up, unless the backfill after excavation is properly compressed before resurfacing, the vibration  caused by the traffic will, after a period of time, cause subsidence and potholes.

Construction companies seem to listen more to their accountants to cut costs rather than their engineers to do a proper job.

When a pothole appears, it needs proper excavation rather than a superficial layer of tarmac. In England, what usually happens is that water gets into the badly-filled hole and then in winter such water is frozen destroying the filling. At least, in Malta you do not have that problem.