The Mellieħa bypass will have to be resurfaced at the contractor's expense as the quality of the works carried out did not meet the necessary standards, Transport Minister Ian Borg said.

He was replying to a parliamentary question by government MP Clayton Bartolo who in October had posed a similar question following reports that the asphalt laid appeared "wavy".

The minister had said that quality control tests were underway.

The €2-million project to reconstruct the bypass has been mired in controversy due to an adjacent massive private development.

A decision had been made to narrow part of the bypass to make way for a new road to serve the new block of apartments still under construction. This had fuelled a public outcry forcing the Transport Ministry to amend plans and keep the four-lane configuration. The changes were announced as part and parcel of a project to reconstruct the bypass.

It later emerged that the speed limit along the stretch had to be halved from 80 to 40 km/h as the bypass had nonetheless been narrowed.

Works started last May by different contractors engaged through direct order. The ministry had justified the decision on grounds that it wanted to complete the project by the start of summer.

While the deadline was respected, questions were immediately raised on the quality of the asphalt.

In response to further questions, Dr Borg said that a €50 million tender concerning the first set of roads due to be resurfaced was being adjudicated, and that work was underway to publish the second and third sets.