€6 million contract for rebuilding of St Paul's Bay bypass

The €6 million contract for the reconstruction of the bumpy St Paul's Bay bypass was awarded last week along with another contract for the €1.2 million reconstruction of Civil Aviation Avenue in Luqa.

Darrel Pace, spokesman for the Roads Ministry, confirmed with The Sunday Times that the contracts had been signed for both roads. Over the years the St Paul's Bay bypass gave way at various points.

In 2000, part of the road close to Xemxija collapsed after excavation work was carried out on an adjacent plot of land; the same area which is currently the focus of an inquiry after excavations by Polidano Brothers continued without planning permit until recently.

Concrete bollards, which are still present, were erected at the time as a temporary measure but the road was never repaired.

It is now to be reconstructed and, as with Aviation Avenue, the project will be co-financed by the European Union's Cohesion Fund. Work is expected to start shortly.

Asfaltar Ltd clinched the contract for the 2.7 km St Paul's Bay bypass; work should take about a year to complete.

The contract for Civil Aviation Avenue, which is around 600 metres long, was awarded to the GAP Joint Venture, a consortium made up of Gatt Brothers, Asfaltar Ltd and Polidano Brothers. Reconstruction work should take about six months.

The cohesion fund will finance some 80 per cent of the projects' total value.

Another tender, worth €3.9 million, for work on the 2.5 km road leading from Mgarr to Ghajnsielem, should also be awarded shortly.

So far, the government managed to secure EU funding on a few other projects such as the repair work on the Manwel Dimech Bridge on the Regional Road as well as the reconstruction of the stretch in Hal Far which leads from the Peace Lab to the Freeport and the rebuilding of the road between Victoria and San Lawrenz.

Overall, the EU will be financing the reconstruction of some 12 km of roads - all parts of what is known as the TEN-T network, a stretch of roads which leads from the Freeport to Cirkewwa and from Mgarr to Victoria.

The roads earmarked for EU financing so far make up some 6.5 per cent of arterial roads in Malta and Gozo.