An Italian contractor entrusted with the reconstruction of the main road in Iklin faced staff shortages due to COVID-19, resulting in a six-week delay, but the project is now expected to be completed by the first week of June, an Infrastructure Malta spokesman has said.
A first coat of tarmac was laid last week, enabling the temporary partial reopening of the road, but sections of the tarmac started coming off quickly with use, to the chagrin of residents and road users.
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.
The reconstruction of Valley Road formed part of a six-lot contract awarded to different contractors following a public call for tenders. Building Energy Technologies Ltd submitted the most affordable technically compliant offer for two of these lots and was awarded a contract for their implementation.
When targets were being repeatedly missed and following a series of warnings to the contractor, Infrastructure Malta re-awarded one of the two lots to the bidder with the next best offer.
When it was clear that it could lose the second lot too, the contractor availed itself of its contractual right to transfer the contract to another company, V&C Contractors, at the same rates, terms and conditions of the original contract but the process resulted in a six-week delay.
The spokesman explained that the €1.2 million upgrade includes the replacement of the road’s underground networks, including sewers and telecommunication cable ducts, as well as new footpaths in a safer road design that is opening up new roadside green areas for the planting of trees and other landscaping.
But residents are not at all convinced about this “excuse”.
“It’s good to hear that there’s a timeline but it’s 10 months too late.
“There was a lot of work that had to be done but it’s no justification. We had to endure months of dust, noise, inconvenience and diversions.
“We need to plan these road projects better and residents must be shown more respect and given more priority,” resident Trevor Zahra said.
Infrastructure Malta has introduced a complex storm water network, including 10 catch-pit connected to a network of new one-metre wide pipes, to alleviate flooding difficulties in this area and in nearby roads.
The reconstruction works were exacerbated by the presence of weak foundation materials beneath the road surface, necessitating additional reinforcements, Infrastructure Malta said.
The spokesman said that workers had completed all underground works, the new footpaths and the reconstruction of the two-lane carriageway.
He said that workers will be carrying out final works on the new storm water catchment system and completing the project with the final two layers of asphalt. The road will be re-opened to all road users in the first week of June.