Although Tower Road in Sliema is set to be reconstructed from scratch in the coming months, Infrastructure Malta has just spent €830,000 in an extensive resurfacing job stretching from the Ferries to St Julian’s.

Tower Road, Sliema, has been resurfaced even though it will be rebuilt from scratch in the coming months. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Addressing a news conference at Fond Għadir, Sliema, Transport Minister Ian Borg justified the decision on grounds that parts of this arterial thoroughfare were in such poor state that urgent action was needed.

However, the timing of the project a few weeks before the European and council elections and the manner in which the works were conducted raised eyebrows.

While Sliema mayor Anthony Chircop told Times of Malta they had neither been notified about the news conference nor on the works themselves, questions were raised about the fact that the area reserved for parking at the side was not resurfaced.

Asked about this, Dr Borg said it was technical. “Since we are not constructing the road from scratch, part of the old asphalt layer had to be retained to calibrate the resurfacing machine to keep the existing levels. Failure to do so would have made the road prone to flooding,” he said.

The minister noted that several roads in Sliema would be rebuilt in the coming months as part of the first batch of roads Infrastructure Malta would be doing from scratch.

The works were part of the government’s €700 million roads programme, spread over seven years. Tower Road, High Street, Manuel Dimech Street and Sir Arturo Mercieca Street were included in the list of 290 roads to be done in the first year across Malta and Gozo, he said.

Our intention is to ensure that these roadworks do not bring Sliema to a standstill

Asked about the lifespan of the new roads, Dr Borg said these were expected to last for 20 years. He added that contractors would be liable in case of bad workmanship for the first five years and, subsequently, there would need to be a maintenance agreement.

In the case of Sliema, Dr Borg remarked that the council had made a formal request for the government to intervene because it did not have the resources to carry out maintenance on arterial roads. “We did not blame the local council but decided to intervene given that there are funds available from the government’s surplus,” he said.

Contacted by Times of Malta, the Sliema mayor welcomed the project but also expressed his dismay on the manner in which it was handled.

“While we only learnt of these works from shop owners and residents, we would have expected to be notified about the news conference as the matter is highly relevant to us, given we had requested the government’s assistance,” Mr Chircop said.

He admitted he was surprised that long-awaited works in St Helen’s Street, which had been flagged a year and a half ago, had not yet been carried out. These works were meant to solve issues related to flooding.

The mayor urged the government to consult with the council on the traffic management system that would be in place during the planned works for Manuel Dimech Street and High Street.

“Our intention is to ensure that these roadworks do not bring Sliema to a standstill but are staggered in a way to minimise inconvenience,” he said.