Residents of a street in Attard have had their road blocked off with a makeshift gate following a dispute with contractors working on the controversial central link roadworks project.  

Activist group Moviment Graffitti on Tuesday said Attard residents who live along Ferdinand Inglott Street had been “locked in their homes” for some days now because of works contracted by roadworks agency Infrastructure Malta.  

“Since last week workers have started to close off vehicular access to Ferdinand Inglott Street by installing a gate and locking it with a padlock,” the group of activists said in a Facebook post.  

A spokesman for Infrastructure Malta said the gate had been erected and locked by the contractors after residents refused to respect the road closure and continued to drive into the street that is being dug up for new subterranean services.  

However, a spokesperson for affected Attard residents opposed to the project told Times of Malta that the gate was abusive. 

He said that residents living along the street had been unable to access their property while contractors dragged their feet on the works. 

One resident had been unable to charge their electric vehicle and another had been forced to cut open the gate’s lock during a “family emergency”. 

Graffitti also said there was no possibility of vehicular access or exit even in the case of an emergency, pointing out that the situation made it impossible for people with disabilities and the elderly to get around their own neighbourhood.

Worse still, the NGO said there is no notice as to who has the key or who may be contacted for it, in the eventuality of a medical emergency or any other emergencies such as fire.

“This is illegal, abusive, and dangerous,” the group said. 

Workers also appear to have placed large concrete blocks in front of residential garages, restricting access, supply and delivery of goods and services to their homes. 

The €55million central link project will see additional lanes of traffic introduced between the Mrieħel bypass and Rabat – a main artery which is regularly congested.  

The project has long been the subject of controversy, sparking protests over the removal of hundreds of trees and the take up of agricultural land.  

The government has repeatedly defended the project as being an integral part of its plan to upgrade the country’s traffic infrastructure.