Labour lambasts government over Manwel Dimech Bridge delays

The Labour Party has criticised the long delay in the completion of works on the Manwel Dimech Bridge, describing it as a monument to Nationalist Party incompetence.

The MLP said the bridge - which was reopened to traffic on Monday - was completed 15 months later than originally planned, adding that former Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett had initially said the bridge would be ready in January of last year.

Replying to a parliamentary question in November 2005, Mr Mugliett had said work on the bridge should start the following January or February and be finished within a year. Instead, the work started in September 2006 and was due to be finished last September. The deadline was, however, first shifted to November and then to March with the contractor insisting on May being the realistic completion date, the MLP said.

It said the project was €2.3 million (almost Lm1 million) over budget. In the 2006 budget speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had said the bridge would cost €3.7 (Lm1.6) million but the final outlay was of €6 (Lm2.6) million.

The party said the "exaggerated delay" occurred despite a decision to extend the working hours to 18 a day throughout the week.

Referring to the Infrastructure Ministry's request for the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) to prepare a report on what could have led to the delay, the MLP said this was another confirmation that the Nationalist government did not believe in a serious and transparent public administration.

It said the report should also look into the involvement of the architectural company DTR.

Reacting to this statement, the Ministry for Infrastructure said the government had not excluded the possibility of commissioning inquiries of verification about the project.

The work carried out by the contractor has not been concluded and the priority was for all the work involved to be finished.

The ministry added that the MLP conveniently failed to mention that the ADT has been instructed to make use of all its legal rights.

Meanwhile, the government expects that the ADT itself will come up with a list of the shortcoming it deems were responsible for the unacceptable delays in the completion of the project.