A pilot project to move utility wires underground while carrying out road works proved to be “very difficult”, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg said on Wednesday, with uncooperative homeowners a key obstacle in enacting the project. 

Borg was giving the press an update on Infrastructure Malta’s plan to fix all of Malta’s roads in seven years, first announced in 2017. At the time, the government had said that part of the project would involve a pilot project to move unsightly overhead electricity cables beneath the ground. 

Asked about that on Wednesday, the minister said that it had proven harder than expected.  

“Some projects are doing it, but the experience is showing us that it is a very difficult and complex process,” Borg said. 

“Not so much from a governance point of view but also in the relationships with homeowners.”

Clashes ranged from people not wanting to have cabinets, which would replace electricity poles, in front of their homes, to others who did not consent to having the required works done in their property. 

In 2020, the government completed a regeneration project in Mqabba, which included a pilot project to attempt to take utility cables underground. 

Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg said that a plan to rebuild Malta's road network had reached the halfway mark

“We managed to complete the pilot project, which was an electoral promise, in Mqabba and while it went well there were huge challenges,” Borg continued. 

“This is an issue that bothers me, as I’m sure it does many people, but for such an ambitious project, it’s clear that more energy is required to achieve it.” 

Four roads a week in 2021

The minister also gave an update on work carried out on residential roads by Infrastructure Malta last year. 

The agency completed work on 220 residential roads in 2021, equivalent to 52 kilometres of new roads. 

On average, IM was able to complete four roads a week, increasing from its average of three roads a week in 2020. 

Throughout its work last year the agency rebuilt or added 58 kilometres in footpaths, laid 141 kilometres in new distribution networks and poured 121,552 tonnes of asphalt on new roads, while also installing 47 kilometres of stormwater pipelines, culverts and catchments.

Presently, IM is currently working on 100 residential roads, with works to begin on more in the coming weeks. 

“We are a little over halfway through with this project and there is more work that is yet to be done,” Borg said.

Promised in the run-up to the 2017 general election, the Labour government vowed to put an end to the country’s reputation for potholes and introduce modern infrastructure to Malta’s roads in an ambitious seven-year project. 

Edging closer towards that deadline with every passing year, visible progress has been made even on major infrastructure projects such as the Marsa Junction project, Tal-Balal road and the Central Link project, which the minister said is nearing completion and set to be inaugurated in the coming days. 

But the race to rebuild Malta’s roads has not come without its challenges. 

In 2021, Times of Malta reported how 121 simultaneous road projects had caused havoc on traffic in June, with 16 projects running past their deadline. 

Last June, works on infrastructure projects were also forced to stop due to an unresolved issue with waste dumping concerns. 

This dumping issue had also put a halt to road works the year prior, with authorities saying that waste to dump debris had reached capacity.