The Transport Authority (ADT) announced yet another agreement with Polidano Brothers over the repair of the unfinished St Paul's Bay bypass yesterday, a few hours after Labour Leader Alfred Sant again called for Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett to resign over the unsettled saga.

Works should start this Monday, the ADT said yesterday, advising that the road will be closed for the first five days, until the initial phase of the works is finished.

After that, repairs will to continue without disruption to traffic.

Mr Mugliett had announced a similar agreement when opening the road last July, following a Lm3 million (€7million) rebuild which, however, left a 300-metre long damaged section unrepaired.

The road had collapsed in 2000 as a result of illegal excavations in nearby land belonging to Polidano, yet different transport authority administrations failed to apportion responsibility to the developers over the years.

Only recently, following intense media attention, did the government start talking of holding the developers to account for the Lm500,000 worth of damage.

The minister had announced in July that the developers had accepted to repair the road at their own expense "unconditionally" and that repair works would be completed by September but none of that came true.

The Office of the Prime Minister eventually intervened threatening the developers with legal action if they did not accept responsibility by October 12 but even that ultimatum seems to have been ignored.

During a press conference yesterday, Dr Sant said it was shameful that the matter had been left to drag on for so long, insisting that this was another instance of Mr Mugliett's incompetence.

He urged the Prime Minister to intervene personally and ensure that work on the bypass is finished as soon as possible if he wanted to be taken seriously about having steady hands in leading this country.

As he did earlier this week in connection with delays at the Manwel Dimech bridge, he reiterated his call for the minister's resignation.

The ministry did not respond directly. However, a statement issued in the afternoon by the ADT announced the agreement with Polidano for works to start this Monday.

Following "intensive" discussions, the ADT said, Polidano group agreed to build supports for the section of the road which sits beneath the hill known as Tal-Fjuri on the Xemxija end of the bypass.

The government demanded that work starts immediately, the statement said, pointing out that as a consequence the bypass will be closed to traffic for the first phase, which should take about five days. Later the bypass will be opened and the support works will be able to continue without disturbing traffic.

The ADT said it was prepared to take legal action against the developers should work not be completed as agreed.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.