The long and winding St Paul's Bay bypass
Yet another deadline has been missed on the construction of the St Paul's Bay bypass as plastic barriers continue to divert traffic on the road that was meant to be completed by August.
A spokesman for the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) said the works per se had been completed but that a part of the road was found to be uneven and, therefore, had to be redone.
The spokesman added that embankment stabilisation works were being carried out in private land nearby and the barriers were being retained so that no damage would be caused to the road surface. The barriers would only be removed once the private developer produced the necessary certification. The ADT washed its hands of the issue and said that since the works were unconnected to the reconstruction of the bypass, the certification had to be given by the developer's architect and civil engineer.
The Roads Ministry said last May that the deadline for the repairs was set for August 2008 - the latest in a long list of deadlines given by the authorities over the years.
The bypass first collapsed in 2000, following illegal excavations carried out in land, adjacent to the bypass, belonging to Polidano Brothers.
It took the ADT seven years to get the company to assume responsibility last year. Reconstruction of the road began in 2007 when the government said it would hold the developers to account for the Lm500,000 estimated damages they had caused.
In July 2007, the developers accepted to repair the road at their own expense "unconditionally" and said that the road was to be completed by September of the same year. Yet, 12 months later, traffic is still being diverted.
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In Discussion
8 Comments
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J Martinel;li
Oct 16th 2008, 21:54
@ All
You should go back on the history of the bypass.
Had it been properly constructed to begin with and the clay removed and the substrata built up properly with crushed stone etc., then it would not have had to be reconstructed in the first place.
The section which caved in was due to improper construction for which the contractor was held responsible and took a long time to resolve.
Having said that, contractors should be given definite deadlines against paying a daily fine and possibly having the project completed by a different contractor at the expense of the defaulting contractor.
The problem with some contractors is that they bid for a number of contracts and if they win more than one at a time, they try to work on both with insufficient equipment and manpower.
The result is unnecessary delays and higher costs.
l Galea
Oct 16th 2008, 20:10
Charles Micallef
I never mentioned equal justice.
I agreed with you.
Charles Micallef
Oct 16th 2008, 15:07
@I. Galea
Equal Justice for all my left foot, it is more a matter of
strong with the weak and very weak with the strong !
Joe Vella
Oct 16th 2008, 14:27
It didn't take ADT seven years to have the company to accept responsability. If I am not mistaken, the case was tied up in the courts for this period of time.
Also, I read, that the work that needs to be done was to be carried out over the winter as not to inconvenient motorist over the busy summer period.
l Galea
Oct 16th 2008, 12:57
Charles Micallef
Do you think that the PM would touch Caqnu?
You must be living in wonderland.
Charles Micallef
Oct 16th 2008, 12:26
It sounds more like a farce than a road re-building project.....
Do we instill any penalty clauses when such contracts are negotiated ?
and if so why do we never hear of a penalty clause being applied for bad workmanship or mere delays?
D. MANGION
Oct 16th 2008, 10:48
@ Karl Abela
Just 35 minutes ago, in another blog in this same Timesofmalta.com website, you have praised the government's "par idejn sodi".
Here you are on the border of contradicting yourself. Admit it. Some people are untouchable by the par idejn sodi. This is the classic case in point.
How about some coherence !
Karl Abela
Oct 16th 2008, 09:29
I seriously hope that the developers are paying fines and penalties for missing the deadlines rather than just cash in on the tax payers hard earned salary. Its time for these people to start being accountable for what they do.
It would be greatly appreciated if we can have some info about such penalties.