The Italian protocol: six months on

The signing of contracts with three Italian road contractors in late May this year marked the start of a project which is unique in several aspects.

To start with, it is unique in the value of works. The final bill of the road works funded under the fifth Italo-Maltese Financial Protocol in fact totals Lm14 million. This does not include the cost of cables, ducts and pipes which is being borne by the services utilities. It also doesn't include the cost of expropriations and permits which are being carried by the Malta Transport Authority.

The road works falling within the framework of the Italian protocol are also unique in the way they are being executed. More comprehensive planning is in fact leading to better project management and better coordination with the utilities. Issues relating to expropriation and the proper shifting of services were tackled and resolved at the outset rather that during the course of the works.

Tenders were issued with detailed design drawings. Matters such as storm water drainage, landscaping, provisions for cyclists and pedestrians, the use of common service ducts, the use of imported aggregate and landscaping were part of the initial picture - not an afterthought.

Even the ancillary matters such as the impact that the works could have on the adjacent environment and heritage are not being overlooked. In fact, an environment and heritage monitor is employed to make sure that monuments such as the catacombs located near Targa Gap are safeguarded.

The tight deadlines imposed on the project by the Fifth Italo-Maltese protocol itself and the importance to stick to the anticipated cost made the project management aspect of the Italian protocol road works crucial for their success. This, however, also prompted us to take pre-emptive measures to make sure that all works related to the project are invoiced by the end of September 2005 and that its cost does not exceed the Lm14 million allocated.

Two safeguards were put in place in this regard. A one-month cushion was integrated in the programme of works to prompt the contractors into compressing their schedule of works. Furthermore, just Lm10.5 million worth of works were originally allocated, leaving Lm2 million for any cost overruns and to award works to this value according to the progress registered.

Six months on we are in a position to assess the progress and the overall situation clearly. The estimates are generally in line with the actual costs of the project. This fact alone has freed up Lm2 million to fund the reconstruction of road stretches that were not originally earmarked.

This period has also shown that not all contractors are able to work at the same pace. One of them has actually fallen behind his proposed programme. Rather than entering into lengthy legal tangles with this contractor, part of the works assigned to him has been removed from his contract on condition that we could award him some further jobs if he catches up.

These two factors have led us to revisit the Italian protocol road works and issue three new contracts for the construction of the road between De Rohan Gate in Zebbug and the roundabout near St Dorothy's school and another two distributor roads that had not been allocated in the first contracts - Siggiewi Road and the road from the Tal-Qlejja roundabout to Zebbiegh.

These three new contracts will be signed in the coming weeks with the remaining three Italian contractors out of the six that had originally submitted tenders for the Italian protocol road works after these agreed to bring down their quotations by a considerable degree.

One cannot downplay the effect that the successful execution of this project will have on the lives of the Maltese people. Data collected before the work started indicate that no fewer than 10,000 vehicles travel on the roads covered by these works every day. Once the roads are finished, 7.2 million people will be travelling on them every year, if one were to assume there is an average of two commuters in each vehicle. That's 216 million commuters during these roads' expected lifetime of 30 years.

Finally, let me put some minds at rest... The extension of the fifth Italo-Maltese protocol to 2007 does not mean that the works will linger on for another three years. The deadline for the works in hand and those that will start soon after the three new contracts are signed remains October 2005.

Mr Mugliett is Minister for Urban Development and Roads.