Our roads

It is really good news that our minister responsible for roads will no longer accept inferior road repairs. This action is long overdue, and one hopes that the minister's resolve is not thwarted by the usual bureaucratic government employees.

We have all literally started feeling the effects of the newly redone roads. But even these excellent new roads and streets will sooner or later require some form of maintenance. Practically all roads which were given a good surface over these last 20 years or so have been ruined by atrocious mis-repairs. It is heartbreaking, frustrating, and makes one very angry, to see some contractors at work repairing road surfaces. We have all been witness to workmen filling a newly dug-up ditch or area with rubble, and then laying a wafer thin covering on top. We have also been witness to the quality of the materials used for road repairs, which can best be described as dirt mixed with a little black binder. Most repairs are done without the use of compactors on underlays, and without the use of road rollers on the top layer. All these so-called repairs soon disintegrate, or leave behind a grossly uneven road surface. I am sure that most contractors are fully capable of delivering decent road repairs, but cutting corners obviously saves them a lot of money. Presumably, government bureaucrats (including local councillors) drive, or are driven, over these surfaces just like the rest of us. Presumably, payments are repeatedly effected to recalcitrant contractors. It is high time that irresponsible people are held accountable.

Whilst on the subject of roads, may I appeal to the minister as follows.

The government is rightly trying to ensure that all road services are in place before bad roads are given the final resurfacing. However, this process must perforce take many, many years. But some roads cannot wait that long, and a temporary, relatively cheap surface should be applied. One prime example is the atrocious road along Dingli Cliffs, another is the road leading to the Pitkali from Attard. I am sure that residents of other localities can mention quite a few more.

An finally, Mr Minister, would you please sack most of your sleeping policemen? A new pestilence is sweeping across Malta, where hundreds, if not thousands, of these illegalities are sprouting up, probably at a faster pace than the dreaded red palm weevil. Excessive town speed is not controlled by wrecking good drivers' cars. It should be controlled by our policemen and wardens, who might thus be better employed than issuing tickets for Millimetric mis-parking.