Deal for six rebuilt roads at Bahrija

As some might know, six roads were built and surfaced in Bahrija last year. I shall give a brief sequence of events to explain how I directly initiated the process for the surfacing of the streets in Bahrija.

March 2003 - The central government agreed (through ADT) to forward Lm75,000 to the Rabat local council (where the PN had a majority) for the construction or reconstruction of roads. Furthermore, the funds were meant to be used for works which fall under the responsibility of the central government.

July 15, 2004 - Rabat residents were informed through a letter by the present mayor (now the MLP enjoys a majority) that a number of streets were going to be resurfaced and paid for by the funds obtained through the contract signed with the authorities. It seems that the list presented by the former council had been revised through an internal exercise. The streets chosen were all at surfaced and fell under the direct responsibility of the local council.

August 4, 2004 - I called the present mayor and spoke to him about the list of roads to be surfaced and he insisted that the works were going to be carried out as explained in his letter of July 15, 2004. Together with some residents of Triq l-Iskola and Triq Raddet ir-Roti, we formulated a petition whereby we asked the local council to revise the position.

August 6, 2004 - I personally handed in the petition at the administration offices of the local council and an employee signed a receipt. I also sent letters to the ADT and to the Local Councils Department highlighting these facts.

August 8, 2004 - An article in this regard was published in Il-Mument.

August 2004 - I attended several local council meetings. I voiced the needs and problems faced by residents on a daily basis and insisted that the contract be honoured.

August 15, 2004 - An article written by some residents who had signed the petition stated that some years before they had forwarded a petition to the minister dealing with the matter, saying that the contract had been signed by the previous mayor and that the criteria adopted by the present local council were the same as those adopted by the former one.

August 22, 2004 - the present mayor wrote an article in Il-Mument raising several points. In brief, it said that: the council had changed twice since the contract was signed; till August 9, 2004, the Rabat local council had not received any petition; that, contrary to what might one might have been led to believe in the previous article, the government never specifically allocated funds for Triq l-Iskola and Triq Raddet ir-Roti; that the streets of Bahrija were never mentioned in the contract, no one ever brought this to his attention and that the contract was originally agreed between the previous local council and the ADT; on June 30, 2004 he had personally written to the department in question highlighting the condition of Triq l-Iskola and Triq Raddet ir-Roti and, furthermore, he said he was disappointed that the residents did not inform him before the article was published.

August 29, 2004 - I wrote an article in Il-Mument to explain once and for all the position. In brief I made the following points:

I described the criteria listed in the contract and Legal Notice 291. I explained that when a new mayor is appointed he inherits the decisions and actions taken by former mayors and is expected to correct any inaccuracies. I explained that on April 26, 2004, during an informal meeting, one of the residents brought the matter to the attention of the mayor and I personally contacted the mayor on August 4, 2004. Therefore, the present mayor was contacted by residents. His statement in the article of August 22, 2004 was inaccurate.

I had delivered the signed petition on August 6, 2004 and one of the employees issued a receipt. Therefore, in his statement where he said that up to August 9, 2004 the Rabat local council had not received any petition, the mayor was inaccurate.

Furthermore, I explained that June 30, 2004 the present mayor sent a letter to the Roads Department regarding the condition of some of the streets in Bahrija. Thus, it follows that before he forwarded the letter to the residents, dated July 15, 2004, the mayor was both aware of the condition of such streets as well as of the fact that these qualified for the funds forwarded by the by central government.

I therefore envisaged that the central government ensured that the funds allocated were used according to the contracted criteria and scope.

2005-Today - After so much work, I am pleased to say that six streets namely, Triq Patri Tumas Xerri, Triq Raddet ir-Roti, Triq il-Fiera, Triq Ta' Namura, Triq Dun Mikiel Bonnici, and Triq l-Iskola, have all been constructed and surfaced.

I feel satisfied that my work has lead to this and that today a good number of families are all benefiting from my work.

I look forward to continue to voice and represent all the residents of Rabat and its outskirts in the next local council in order that each and every resident's life will be improved for the better.

The author will stand in Saturday's local elections.