20 roads passed on to government in Lm450,000 settlement

About 20 gravelled roads within Santa Marija Estate, in Mellieha, will finally be resurfaced after decades of residents' haranguing with the private company that owned the land.

The government is now putting an end to years of wrangling in court between residents and Cenmed Ltd, the company owned by property magnate Albert Mizzi.

Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett told The Times that an agreement has been reached between the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) and Cenmed, and works on the roads should start by the end of next month.

The government, following a Cabinet decision last month, has agreed to accept Mr Mizzi's offer of Lm450,000 to carry out all the works, finally relinquishing his responsibility for the roads.

The story started back in 1963 when Mr Mizzi bought the temporary emphyteusis of Santa Marija Estate from the Metropolitan Chapter and set up a gate at the entrance, where the estate meets the principal road of Mellieha.

Taking over the land meant that Cenmed was responsible for constructing the roads, the drainage system, electricity, water and other services.

However, in the 1970s, the barrier was removed because it impeded access to the beaches below the street, and Cenmed has since argued that as a consequence, road asphalting and maintenance was the government's responsibility.

There is correspondence dating back to 1978, sent by the Mellieha Labour Party club to the late minister Lorry Sant, revealing that residents living in this area were already complaining about the road formation.

Since the late 1980s, the Director of Works and Cenmed have been in discussions over who was responsible for the road works and the cost involved.

In 1997, the Mellieha local council, representing the residents, filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that it was not honouring its obligations.

Since then, the case has been in and out of court right up to 2006. A year earlier the Court of Appeal had remarked that roads do not become public with the simple fact that they were accessible to the public.

The court had pointed out that there was a specific procedure of how the road could become public - the obligation would be passed on to the government once it was satisfied that the roads' formation and asphalting conformed to its regulations.

The court appointed an architect to give an estimate of the cost involved and this was established at Lm400,000. However, when ADT conducted a thorough investigation, it estimated that the works would cost Lm481,824, plus another Lm62,375 for the utilities.

Mr Mugliett said that things were delayed further until it was established that Mr Mizzi was not expecting compensation from the government if it took over the roads' maintenance.

"We are now conducting an analysis of all the services and a through investigation of the drainage mains so that works can start by the end of September," he said.

Former Transport Minister Censu Galea also welcomed this decision, which ended a long-standing battle that had left residents suffering the brunt of the terrible state of the roads.