Inconvenient roadworks

We, the Msida local council, feel it is our duty to bring to light the disastrous state of affairs concerning the road works presently being carried out by the government in Conception Street, Msida. Residents have for months now been made to suffer road works that are too slow, unplanned and chaotic, and that lack all basic safety measures.

Way back in February, prior to the March local council elections, works on Conception Street started. These works are being carried out by the government as an extension of the road works project which the ADT commissioned in order to resurface the roads surrounding the new Social Housing apartments in Msida. The reason for this extension was due to the government's desperate attempt to save face in the March election, when it had started major road works in those towns where elections were being held.

These works include the changing of the water and drainage systems. However, due to bad, or rather rushed planning, the road had to be opened up twice as, for some unknown reason the Water Services Corporation, while passing the new water main, forgot to pass the drainage system.

Worse still, the works are being carried out without adhering to basic safety measures. Residents, most of whom are well advanced in age, risk seriously injuring themselves when crossing over man-high trenches on small wooden boards simply to get out of their homes. Some even have to risk walking on flimsy wooden window panels. These trenches are not covered by iron sheets as is usually the case. Neither are they surrounded by barriers and lit up at night as basic safety regulations require. This is not to speak of the smell and the rats that have infested the surroundings due to the open drainage pipes.

We are dismayed and appalled by the current state of affairs in Conception Street. These works have taken too long and are being carried out without the due care and safety measures thereby endangering the welfare of the residents.

The Msida council has, on a daily basis, brought to the attention of the ADT the need to address these problems immediately but this has been to no avail. This situation cannot continue to be tolerated. No one should have to live in such appalling conditions, not even for one day, let alone months on end. It is of no use to speak about health and safety regulations in Malta when it is the government itself which fails to abide by its own established standards.

This situation is unacceptable. Has the government forsaken the residents of Msida simply because they chose to change their voting preferences?