Transport Minister Ian Borg got more than he bargained for when he uploaded a photo of roadworks in Iklin, with residents complaining that the works had dragged on for well over a year.

One said the works on Triq il-Wied had taken longer than it had taken scientists to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.

“More than a year to fix a simple road. The Chinese would have built a city. Amateurs,” another  Facebook user commented.  

"Please tell me this is some sort of joke," read another comment. 

Others complained of endless days of loud and intrusive roadworks.  

“We thank you for the electricity cuts we are regularly experiencing,” read another comment.  

In May, roads agency Infrastructure Malta had defended the delays and promised the road would be open to traffic by June. It was reopened today.

A spokesman for the agency had said an Italian contractor entrusted with the reconstruction of the main road has staff shortages due to COVID-19.

Works on 1km arterial road between Naxxar and Iklin hit problems during the second wave of the pandemic when the contractor had a number of employees in mandatory quarantine or self-isolation.

The spokesman said that when Infrastructure Malta realised that the contractor was not meeting the targets, it approached him to get his act together.